Fight over Haribo jellies, palm oil and whether sex “sells”

The biggest German supermarket chains are withdrawing the famous Haribo jellies from their shelves because of a dispute over prices. Lidl decided to cease the sales of the popular product and Edeka to reduce it by 40%. The situation was initiated with Haribo wanting to raise the prices by 0.10 € on a 360-gram package. The company said the higher prices were necessary because the raw ingredients have themselves become more expensive.

More than 32 000 farmers could be affected by the U.S. ban of imports of palm oil coming from Malaysian FGV Holdings Berhad. The block came as a response to an investigation revealing labor abuses, deception, restriction of movement, isolation, intimidation as well as sexual and physical violence happening in the business. The country’s farmer association (National Association of Smallholders Malaysia) condemned the ban. It stated that the industry is facing anti-palm oil campaigns in Europe and the current accusations are unfounded because most farmers work on their own land.

Advertising campaigns based on sex may not “sell” as well as previously thought, according to the newest study made by researchers from Padova and Trieste universities. The study showed two versions of an advertisement for a product – one “sexualized” and one neutral – to both men and women. It found that women were affected negatively by the “sexualized” ad (no matter if the model pictured was female or male), while men remained mostly unaffected by it. Only men who had “higher levels of hostile attitudes towards women” were more attracted by this kind of advertising.