OPERATION TANG
Protest - Sugar Liberation army
MEDIA COVERAGE
Radio New Zealand (RNZ) Interview:
Television 3 (TV3) Interview and live cross from the site of the protest:
Still taken from Sugar Liberation Army interview footage aired on TV3 national news, 18th September, 2008, Aotearoa New Zealand,
New Zealand Herald - Snifters protest serious business
Stuff - Cadbury targeted by Sugar Liberation Army
Otago Daily Times - Sweet protest 'deadly serious'
Scoop - Full Media Release
A Sugar Liberation Army (S.L.A) Media Release
On the 18th of September, 2008 Cadbury’s – a self-made Dunedin icon and influential employer of local workers – announced they were discontinuing the production of Snifter’s, the sweet, peppermint-coated chocolate snack, a close cousin of the cinema favourite Jaffa’s. Tangy Fruits and Sparkles had already been put on the chopping block, but the end of Snifter’s was the final straw.
The Sugar Liberation Army (S.L.A) was formed out of desperation by concerned Dunedin resident Leigh Paterson. “I always thought I would protest something like cheese prices … but this is just ridiculous. People just don’t care anymore. Someone has to stand up to Cadbury’s and tell them the way they are hacking at the childhoods of thousands is atrocious”. Ms Paterson added that passing it off as a public health measure to combat child obesity and cavity rates was blatant pandering to the current mode of Nanny State regulation and interference that is plaguing the country. They are also all melamine-free products.
On October 2nd, 2008 the S.L.A officially launched their direct action campaign, with a peak hour protest outside Cadbury’s on Cumberland Street. To shout "Enough is Enough!" and "Don’t Biff The Sniffs!" The S.L.A rallied friends and their soft-focus milk bar memories and made a stand when it counted!
The S.L.A was the only group prepared to stand up to the hulking corporate Cadbury’s and it’s Machiavellian remodeling of their sweet treats range.
Additional thanks to Jenna Todd, Lucinda McConnon, Kate Anderson, Tom Edgeley and Otago Polytechnic School of Design, 2008, Year Two, Design Culture and Context (DCC2) students.
The media release above has been adapted from the original press release written by Aaron Hawkins which can be read in full in the link below.
