A candy commercial turned sour instead of sweet for Cardinals speedster Lou Brock.
Fifty years ago, in September 1972, the Federal Trade Commission banned a Milk Duds television commercial featuring Brock because it deemed the advertisement as deceptive.
In the commercial, Brock suggested he got the speed to steal bases by eating Milk Duds.
Candy man can
Milk Duds, chewy chocolate-covered caramels, were introduced in the 1920s in Chicago. (The Chicago Tribune reported the start date as 1926. Hershey, the current owner of Milk Duds, lists the date as 1928.)
Milton J. Holloway, a Chicago native whose father immigrated to the United States from England, was the creator of Milk Duds and other candy such as Black Cow suckers, the Tribune reported.
According to Hershey, Milk Duds got named because the maker couldn’t get the caramels to form perfectly round shapes, and thus dubbed them duds. In another version, a candy executive told the Tribune, “It was supposed to be duds _ as in fancy duds.”
Regardless, the name and the candy were popular in the United States and became a successful business for Milton Holloway. According to the Tribune, Holloway said he ate Milk Duds every day to measure the candy’s quality.
In 1960, Holloway sold Milk Duds to Beatrice Foods Co. of Chicago for $1.25 million, the Tribune reported. Holloway was 76 when he died in 1972.
Follow the money
After Marvin Miller became executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association in 1966, he “negotiated numerous lucrative licensing and marketing deals that added millions of dollars to the Players Association coffers,” Bill Madden of the New York Daily News reported.
In one of those deals, Beatrice Foods agreed to pay the players’ union for the rights to market Milk Duds as the official candy of the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Also, the agreement enabled Beatrice Foods to produce baseball cards on the backs of 5-cent boxes of Milk Duds in 1971. The cards included several future Hall of Famers, including Brock, Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Tom Seaver.
Beatrice signed Brock to do television commercials for Milk Duds. In a 1970 commercial, Brock is shown giving base stealing tips to youngsters. “When the pitcher goes into his motion,” Brock says, “I take off like I was running for a box of Milk Duds.” A narrator’s voice intones: “Milk Duds are great little energy builders.” Video
Say what?
Things got as sticky as a melted Milk Dud for Beatrice Foods with a follow-up commercial featuring Brock.
Here’s a transcript of the controversial commercial as reported by the Hackensack (N.J.) Record:
Narrator: “Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder. Hitter with blazing speed on the bases. What’s your secret for stealing second, Lou?”
Brock: “I study every pitcher in the league and his moves. I take about a four- to five-step lead off the bag, and stay real loose.”
Narrator: “Milk Duds with energy for speed. Is that where you get your speed, Lou?”
Brock: “Sure. I sure do like Milk Duds.”
Narrator: “Milk Duds are little bits of energy. Rich chocolate-covered caramel. Milk Duds with energy for speed on the bases. That’s why Milk Duds are the official candy of the Major League Baseball Players Association. You’ll see the official seal on every box. Enjoy them often.”
Ain’t that America
That commercial got the attention of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in Washington, D.C. Created by President Woodrow Wilson in September 1914, the FTC describes its mission as “protecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition.”
The FTC determined the Milk Duds commercial was deceptive because Brock told viewers he got his base stealing speed by eating the candy. “The FTC believed a false impression was being conveyed,” the Hackensack Record reported.
In this case, the false impression was “that eating candies, such as Holloway Milk Duds, was necessary to instill, improve and maintain athletic ability and performance,” the Associated Press explained.
In issuing its consent order, the FTC prohibited Beatrice Foods from using deceptive endorsements by athletes and athletic organizations. Or, as the Washington Star-News put it, “For the first time, a jock huckster was told to get off the air if he wasn’t going to tell the truth.”
According to the FTC, the endorsements were based on a monetary relationship between Beatrice Foods and its endorsers and not on nutritional superiority, The Sporting News noted.
Under the headline, “FTC Watchdog On Prowl Vs. Athletes’ Oversell,” the Boston Globe described the ruling as “a landmark finding.”
“For the first time, the Federal Trade Commission is formalizing guidelines for endorsements,” the Globe reported.
(The next year, the FTC cracked down on Domino Sugar for hyping its product as the official sugar of Major League Baseball and the NFL. The FTC ordered Domino Sugar to use part of its advertising budget to say its product is not a special or unique source of strength, energy and stamina.)
According to the Hackensack Record, “The probable audience of an advertisement would influence FTC action. One aimed at children may be measured against more rigorous standards than one for adults.”
In a September 1972 editorial, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch supported the FTC action.
“The Cardinals have had little to cheer about all summer,” the editorial stated. “One bright spot, as usual, has been the play of Lou Brock, and how he does it we don’t know except we are fairly certain the Federal Trade Commission is right in saying it isn’t by eating a brand of candy called Milk Duds. The FTC has taken a much needed step toward correcting the abuses of athlete testimonials, which are directed at a largely young and impressionable audience.”