One of the staples of advocacy PR is figuring out how to insert your story in the news when the media are already covering your issue. That way, you don't have to convince reporters to cover your issue, you just need to persuade them to cover your perspective on it.

Business Leaders for Sensible Priorites, founded by Ben and Jerry's Co-founder Ben Cohen, wanted to score national news coverage for its message that federal spending priorities are mixed up, with over 50 percent of Congress' discretionary budget dedicated to the Pentagon and everything else (foreign aid, science, environment, housing, Head Start) getting the scraps.

Our Job

We were assigned to design a stunt, or photo opportunity, to gain coverage. We chose the day that President Bill Clinton submitted his budget to Congress, because the news media would be covering federal budget priorities on that day. And we we knew the dry budget story needed a visual component. So, we suggested creating a giant ice cream budget pie, illustrating the federal government's mixed up spending priorities.

Results

A photo and story about the event was distributed nationally by the Associated Press, landing in newspapers across the country. Local TV news in a dozen states also aired footage.

Contact: Andrew Greenblatt 212-964-1109 Ext.24 For Immediate Release

Eleven-Foot Ice Cream "Budget Pie" to Illustrate Federal Spending Priorities
Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's will Slice Budget Pie Feb. 1, the Day Clinton Budget Is Due

Former Sen. Dale Bumpers, and Robert Egger, Director of DC Central Kitchen, and Cohen to
Call on Lawmakers to Invest in America by Trimming the Pentagon Budget

WASHINGTON, DC, Feb 1--This year, politicians in Washington DC can do more than argue about the federal budget. They can eat it, too.

Boldly and coldly illustrating how the President and Congress slice the discretionary portion of the federal budget, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry's Homemade, Inc. and advocate for sensible budget priorities, will unveil a giant 11-foot ice cream pie Monday, Feb. 1, at 12 noon on the east side of the U.S. Capitol, across from the Supreme Court building. The pie's colored frosting will show major federal budget categories, including the Pentagon and domestic programs.

The budget pie's ingredients will include thousands of nuts, emphasizing the major point participants want to make by presenting the pie to lawmakers: "Federal spending priorities are nuts."

"When it comes to the federal budget, pie charts on paper don't seem to get the point across," said Cohen. "So we thought we'd try an edible approach. As you can see, America needs to spend more at home to defend against the economic threats that we'll face in the next century. It's time for politicians to say 'no' to defense contractors and their lobbyists and 'yes' to our kids and a healthy economy."

With the pie as a backdrop, Cohen--joined by former Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark) and Robert Egger, Director of the DC Central Kitchen--will call on lawmakers to invest in America's kids, schools, and other domestic programs.

"I obviously love ice cream," says Cohen. "But this budget pie is giving America indigestion. Why does the Pentagon still get half the budget pie when the Cold War is over and America's schools are crumbling? Our kids--and other domestic needs--need a bigger slice."

The pie will be 11-feet in diameter to represent the 11 million kids in America who don't have health insurance. It will contain about 1,200 lbs. of ice cream or 188 gallons, with enough whipped topping to cover 95 square feet. Ice cream that is not eaten at the event will be given to the DC Central Kitchen and other food banks in Washington, DC.

MOVE OUR MONEY is campaign by a group of military and business leaders who have called for increased investments in America's schools, kids, and other domestic needs. To pay for this, they advocate trimming about $40 billion in wasteful spending from the Pentagon budget.

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