Ice Cream Maker and Cage-Free Egg Crisis

Early in 2006, a high-profile ice cream company was contacted by The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which had begun targeting progressive brands in an effort to convince them to switch to purchasing eggs from sources that did not confine hens to tiny cages (“cage-free”). Such a switch would be costly for the company, so it approached Cone for an analysis of the degree of risk posed by ignoring the Humane Society’s position.

Working with the client, Cone:

• Interviewed company sourcing officials regarding agricultural options and costs for switching to cage free sources
• Examined the company’s history of communications and relationship with The Humane Society
• Completed an aggressive broadcast, print and online audit of the HSUS’ egg campaign, which included studying the intensity of media coverage, tactics and messages used and the impact of other companies’ efforts to resist
• Identified options and consequences for the company and made recommendations for next steps

Several months later, when the HSUS launched a public campaign against this ice cream company, the company asked Cone to predict the organization’s upcoming tactics and their impact. The results of our work were reviewed both at the client and at its parent company. These results formed the basis for a decision to commit to phased-in sourcing of cage-free eggs in the future. This decision ended the campaign against our client and resulted in a rush of positive news coverage.