W Ketchup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
W Ketchup is a brand of ketchup made in the United States. The brand was founded by Susie Oliver, Stacey Hughes, Dan Oliver and New York banker Bill Zachary, along with 11 associates during the 2004 Presidential election campaign in reference to that fact that the Democratic candidate John Kerry was married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, who inherited an interest in the H. J. Heinz Company upon the death of her first husband, the Republican Senator from Pennsylvania Henry John Heinz III. Teresa Heinz's current holdings amount to under 4% of the company, which is not enough to give her significant control.[1]
According the company's web site, the "W" in the name officially refers to George Washington, although the single letter is also a common nickname of President George W. Bush.
The company describes itself as "a private company that makes ketchup in America solely from ingredients grown in the USA and does not support the Democratic Party".[2] It makes a point of the fact that "every bottle is made in America, every label is printed in America, and every step of the manufacturing process takes place in America",[3], and that the USA is "the only place [it] manufacture[s] and distribute[s]" its product.[2] In marketing and labeling, where Heinz boasts of its 57 varieties, W Ketchup places a similar sticker with "50 states" in bold letters.
W Ketchup donates a portion of its profits to the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund which provides college scholarships for children whose parents, as active members of the armed forces, were killed, disabled, or classified as POW or MIA.
