June 23, 2009:  National Call-in Day to Ask Hershey to GO FAIR TRADE!!!

For years, you have been taking action along with Global Exchange to stop abusive child labor in the cocoa industry in West Africa.  As a result of the constant pressure, major chocolate companies like M&M/Mars and Cadbury have recently agreed to stronger labor and environmental standards in the production of the cocoa they use.  But one iconic US brand is lagging behind - and they need to hear from YOU today!

Please join thousands of people across the country affiliated with dozens of organizations nationwide in calling Hershey TODAY to ask them to start buying Fair Trade certified cocoa.  To have the biggest impact, please help us encourage as many people as possible to call in a single day!  

• Hanging out with friends, family, or colleagues?  Ask them to pull out their cell phones, too, and take a moment to call!
• Forward this email to friends and relatives!

For those of you on the West Coast: try to make your call earlier in the day while Hershey's office is still open in Pennsylvania!

Before you call, you may wish to review some issues that Hershey may bring up while on the phone with you.  They are available here.  

After you make your call, please click here to send us an e-mail letting us know how it went!  E-mailing us about your call is very important because it will help us to estimate the number of people who called Hershey.

Fair Trade certification helps farmers to improve their incomes as well as their living and working conditions.  The Fair Trade standards include important labor and environmental protections and help to reduce child labor.  It's time for Hershey to get serious about ending labor rights abuses in their supply chain and start buying Fair Trade certified cocoa. For more information about why we are focusing on Hershey click here.  

You will notice in the phone script that you would indicate your favorite Hershey bar in the second sentence.  For many of us, our favorite bar is a Fair Trade bar, and since Hershey does not have a Fair Trade bar, we may not know what to say.  It is important, though, to include this sentence because Hershey will be more interested in what its own consumers have to say.  For those of us who buy Fair Trade only, some alternatives to this phrase are:

• Omitting this phrase when you call
• As a kid, my favorite Hershey bar was ______
• My niece/nephew or grandchild's favorite Hershey bar is ______
• My favorite chocolate bar is Dagoba's Fair Trade Certified Conacado bar (Dagoba is owned by Hershey)

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to improving the lives of workers around the world and stopping child labor!  

Adrienne Fitch-Frankel
Fair Trade Campaign Director
Global Exchange

Hershey phone number: 800-468-1714.  Option "0"

HERSHEY CALL-IN SCRIPT
Hi, my name is ___ and I'm calling from ___ (city/state).  I am a huge fan of [insert your favorite HERSHEY candy here].  I'm calling today to ask Hershey to become a leader in sustainable cocoa production by purchasing Fair Trade Certified cocoa for your candy bars.  With a label from an independent third party certifier, consumers have a way of knowing that Hershey is working to respect farmers and the environment, and end abusive child labor in the cocoa industry.  Fair Trade is the only label that gives farmers a fair price for their cocoa beans so they can support their families and escape poverty.  Thank you for your time!

Thank you for calling Hershey today!  

Can you increase your impact by encouraging FIVE friends to join you in calling Hershey TODAY?  Click here to tell your friends!

We appreciate all of your efforts to support better living and working conditions for cocoa farmers.  If we want to see our Hershey bars, Kisses, Kit Kats, Reese's and more produced under fair and sustainable conditions, we have to keep up the pressure on Hershey!  Please continue to join us in the coming months as we launch new actions in our cocoa campaign.

Don't forget to sign up for our urgent action e-mail list here!  

Thanks again,
Adrienne Fitch-Frankel
Fair Trade Campaign Director Global Exchange


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