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Sensitivity--and an icon

There has been a little packaging flap around one of the images that is used on the paper wrappers for Tootsie Pops, the long-standing confection produced by Tootsie Roll Industries, headquartered in Chicago.Arnie3.jpg

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The controversy centers around the image of a boy playing Indian and shooting an arrow at a star, just one of a series of images printed on the paper wrapper.

The issue surfaced when an investment company, Calvert Asset Management Co., contacted Tootsie Roll Industries and asked that the image be removed or changed because the company felt it was objectionable. Calvert, based in Bethesda, MD, manages a number of funds, including one that owns shares in Tootsie Roll Industries. Initially, Calvert asked the company to change the image, and then asked the company to put the issue to a vote at the company’s annual meeting.

The company refused to budge, saying the matter related to the company’s “ordinary business” rather than one to be addressed by stockholders. And the Securities and Exchange Commission declined to intervene. Later, Tootsie Roll Industries removed a page on its Web site that related a mythical story of how an Indian chief provided the inspiration for the Tootsie Pop.

Much like news coverage in the Chicago business community, I first regarded the issue as simple hyper-sensitivity, although some in the Native American community publicly supported Calvert’s efforts. For its part, Tootsie Roll Industries’ management declined to comment, simply saying its package imagery was “responsible and received favorably” by most customers. When I contacted the company, I was asked to put my questions in writing. They were sent twice, without any response. Many phone calls went unreturned.

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