Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good

October 13, 2003
One of the most unusual philanthropic enterprises of the 20th century almost never happened: Newman's Own was the name intended for a restaurant the movie star wanted to open near his home in Westport, Conn. But the idea never went anywhere, freeing up Newman to start a business in the early 1980s with his friend Hotchner, a bestselling author (Papa Hemingway
), selling a salad dressing made from Newman's personal recipe. The rest is history. As this breezy memoir recalls, the two broke every rule for launching a new food business, ignoring the failure rate for celebrity-themed products, demanding all-natural ingredients and bypassing nearly every aspect of market research (although they did hold one taste test at the home of local caterer Martha Stewart). Despite all this, they managed to pull in nearly $1 million in profits their first year, all earmarked for charity, and have since launched many more products and donated nearly $140 million. This part of the story doesn't really have a lot of meat to it, but it is an entertaining string of anecdotes, song parodies and wacky customer letters. The book's second half becomes more somber as it shifts focus to the Hole in the Wall Gang, the organization they created to build and run camps for children with serious illnesses. The origins of each of the eight camps are recounted in detail, along with letters from some of the campers. A slew of appendixes, including several recipes utilizing Newman's Own products, rounds out the text. (Nov.)

Forecast:
This title is bound to attract a lot of curiosity—loyal fans of the salad dressing alone (not to mention of Newman) could make the book a bestseller
.

July 1, 2003
What started out in 1978 as a way to spoof the inanities of modern merchandising has turned into a gigantic business whose profits support camps for desperately ill children. Find out the story behind Newman's Own.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2003
Movie actor Newman and his writer friend Hotchner broke all the business rules to become significant players in the food industry--and used their profits to open summer camps for critically ill children. They started selling Newman's "home brew" salad dressing in 1982 as a joke, but in the following 20 years they gained national recognition with an expanded product line, allowing them to give away $150 million. Their Hole in the Wall Gang camps (named after the outlaw band led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, immortalized on film by Newman and Robert Redford), which serve children with life-threatening diseases, became very successful. Noted for strict attention to the quality of staff and operations, the camps have been replicated in several states and in other countries, too. This is a witty and inspiring tale, not coincidentally also excellent public relations for the authors, their food products, and their fund-raising efforts for the children's camps.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)

November 15, 2003
Newman and Hotchner have written an unbusiness book-it's inspirational, informative, and entertaining but definitely not in the "how-to" category. Basically, the authors broke all the rules and wrote their own, having poked fun at and bucked standard business procedures from the moment they launched Newman's Own in September 1982 with Paul's homemade salad dressing. What started as a lark became the first company to mass-market all-natural foods, and Newman's Own became a major player in the food industry. The company now sells popcorn, salsa, steak sauce, pasta sauces, peanut butter cups, and then some. Recounted here is how the authors relied on instinct, imagination, common sense, and, of course, exceedingly good luck when founding their company. They disclose the reasons they believe that they've succeeded: they provide nutritious, all-natural products that taste good and combine philanthropy with name recognition. The chapters about the critically ill children at camps funded by Newman's Own profits are heartwarming. Slightly odd, this is nevertheless an enjoyable read for any business student or entrepreneur. Recommended for both public and academic libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/03.]-Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.