Student group greets Kraft with protest

They wore boxes identical to a Kraft macaroni and cheese box on one side and the Marlboro logo on the other and held posters referring to the multi-million dollar food company as "Krap." Touting such logos, the members and supporters of INFACT -- a not-for-profit corporate watchdog group founded in 1977 -- attracted a number of curious stares yesterday afternoon as they protested the presence of Kraft representatives in the On-Campus Recruiting Services Office in the basement of the McNeil Building. About 25 students participated in the protest, which lasted for more than two hours. INFACT, whose stated intent is to prevent life-threatening abuses perpetrated by transnational corporations, has been organizing protests and conferences in Philadelphia. Specifically, INFACT has been encouraging a boycott of foods produced by Kraft, a subsidiary of the powerful tobacco-manufacturing conglomerate Philip Morris. INFACT arrived at Penn early last month when Noli Hoye, a recent Haverford College graduate and INFACT representative, brought her cause to Penn. Hoye garnered the support of Penn students by making November INFACT's Kraft Boycott Visibility Month. Over the course of the month, 200 Penn students signed petitions urging Kraft to end its affiliation with Philip Morris. One hundred students also participated in Kraft Call-In-Day, using the cell phones provided by INFACT to call Kraft executives around the country. However, when Hoye left Philadelphia for Seattle last week, only three Penn students -- College freshman Emily Quesada,who has been acting as the media coordinator for the INFACT campaign on Penn's campus, College junior Nati Passow and College freshman Aimee Derbes -- continued to campaign. Passow articulated the goal of yesterday's protest when he said, "As we enter the job market, students have an obligation to consider the impact of our work in the global sense. "We at U-Penn must let Philip Morris know we won't be part of a corporation that markets an addictive and deadly product around the world -- no matter how rich the personal rewards." As the largest subsidiary of Philip Morris, Kraft provides 47 percent of the revenues used by the company. "Kraft is the largest source of unfettered income Philip Morris has," Quesada said at the protest. Philip Morris is the world's largest and most profitable tobacco company. INFACT has recently been targeting the company for its aggressive marketing campaigns directed at children and teenagers. Derbes discussed the company's marketing techniques in Buenos Aires, which she claimed includes handing out cigarettes to 15- and 16-year-olds on lunch recess. She also mentioned a campaign in Eastern Europe where cigarettes are handed out at rock concerts. "I just think it's really hypocritical that [Philip Morris] markets Kraft Macaroni and Cheese as this family values kind of thing and then turns around and launch million dollar campaigns to get kids addicted to cigarettes," Quesada said.