Mars

Mars is a privately-owned company with turnover of $18bn and operating in over 65 countries. While best known for its confectionery products it also has substantial interests in other food and drink products, the petfood industry (Whiskas and Pedigree), and electronics. ] Mars Inc. owns Masterfoods USA which makes Seeds of Change (organic frozen meals) and Uncle Ben's.

The Mars family (including siblings and retired company CEO Forrest Mars, Jr., chairman John Franklyn Mars, and Vice President Jacqueline Badger Mars) owns the highly secretive firm, making the family one of the richest in the U.S. Forbes lists Forrest, John, and Jacqueline Mars as each having US$10.5 billion, making them tied for the 58th spot on the list of the world's richest billionaires.

ALEC Ties
Mars has been a corporate funder of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). They were an exhibitor at ALEC's 2011 conference.

Promoting Chocolate as A Health Food
Mars, which makes Snickers bars, M&Ms and Dove chocolates, used to spend $1 million per year subsidizing a newsletter which claimed that eating chocolate could prevent cavities. Now it is funding research that says chocolate is good for your heart. According to PR Week, the company has hired the Weber Shandwick PR firm to help promote its new CocoaVia brand, with the slogan, "Be Good to Your Heart Everyday." The New York Times reports that Mars is even placing its new CocoaVia bars in the health food aisles, near nutrition bars rather than candy, in retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores and Target. Noting that the new chocolate bars are still high in fat and calories, independent nutritionists remain skeptical, "saying that the effort seems less of a breakthrough than a sly way to scare up chocolate sales."

Ad boycott against Air America Radio
Mars' Masterfoods USA refused to advertise on the progressive Air America Radio. In October 2006, around 90 companies, including Masterfoods, told ABC Radio Networks that they did not want their ads to play on radio stations that carried Air America Radio.

Lobbying
According to the Lobbyist.info database, Mars retains the firms Andrews Associates and Patton Boggs as outside counsel. According to the Center for Public Integrity, Mars has spent $9,110,000 on lobbying from 1998 to 2004, through the Patton Boggs, Policy & Taxation Group, Taggart & Associates and DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary firms. 

Public Relations
For public relations, Mars/M&M has hired the WPP Group firm Cohn & Wolfe, the BCom3 Group, Gavin Anderson & Company, Ready For Media, Weber Shandwick, rbb Public Relations. 

As the Holmes Report detailed, the rbb account was to help M&M's "go Hispanic":
 * After 60 years of manufacturing and distributing the chocolate that “melts in your mouth, not in your hand”, M&M/Mars made the decision to target the ever-growing U.S. Hispanic market for the first time. To do this, the company created a uniquely Hispanic M&Ms candy and retained rbb Public Relations to launch a branding campaign for the all-new product.


 * The flavor? M&Ms Dulce de Leche-Caramel Chocolate Candies - a swirl of rich chocolate and creamy dulce de leche caramel (a staple Hispanic dessert) perfectly blended in a traditional M&Ms   Candy Shell.  In concert with “M&M,” rbb decided to target the five cities that boast the highest concentrations of Hispanics in the U.S. based on percentage of total population – Los Angeles, McAllen/Brownsville, Miami, San Antonio and San Diego.

Personnel
Key executives:
 * John Franklyn Mars, Chairman
 * Paul S. Michaels, President
 * R. E. Barnes, Vice President, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer

Contact details
6885 Elm St. McLean, VA 22101 Phone: 703-821-4900 Fax: 703-448-9678 Web: http://www.mars.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Masterfoods
 * Obesity PR
 * Bob Gamgort - former North American President