Krispy Kreme Causes Controversy in Florida Schools
Krispy Kreme’s long-standing program that rewards kids’ good grades with donuts has come under fire by watchdog group Commercial Alert that claims the program exploits children.
“Maybe Krispy Kreme should offer free coupons for insulin and syringes to the kids who end up with diabetes,” said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert.
For the past decade, Krispy Kreme stores have rewarded students in kindergarten through sixth grade with a free doughnut for every A on their report card in communities across the country. Students can also decorate posters of doughnuts with ‘success sprinkles” when they meet goals. The posters can be turned in for a class set of doughnuts. Recently, the Krispy Kreme program in Palm Beach County has been questioned in light of the concerns regarding childhood obesity.
“This program has been around for many, many years and it is not a program that we go out and aggressively market,” said Amy Hughes, spokesperson for Krispy Kreme, based in Winston-Salem, NC. “Marketing to children is not something that we are aggressively pursuing, this program is just something that we make available to communities.”
Though the company claims it is not targeting children in its marketing efforts, Krispy Kreme has launched a promotional tie-in with DreamWorks’ upcoming release Shark Tale. (A baker offers a new Kelpy Kreme doughnut named after a character in the film.) Additionally, Krispy Kreme locations will be hosting Shark Tale events in participating stores and at various theaters targeting young fans of the film.
Meanwhile, awareness of the rising levels of obesity across the country and the low-carb diet craze has hurt Krispy Kreme. The baker’s share prices dropped 10% to reach a record low level of $13.77 last week after the company released its 2004 first half results.
