BUSH CAMPAIGN Ketchup musters support

The Heinz label doesn't sit well with Bush supporters.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
"You don't support Democrats. Why should your ketchup?"
That's the slogan for the Republican-inclined "W Ketchup," a brand started by friends who concluded during a barbecue that when they used Heinz Tomato Ketchup, they were supporting the Kerry campaign.
John Kerry's wife is Teresa Heinz Kerry, heir to the Heinz fortune through her first marriage.
"Mrs. Heinz Kerry is not involved in the Heinz Co.," said Debbie Foster, a spokeswoman for Heinz. "All of the Heinz family interest in the Heinz Co. accounts for less than 4 percent of our stock."
Behind the effort
Susie Oliver, chief operating manager and one of the 15 co-founders of W Ketchup, said her company sees 4 percent as being "a ton of money."
"I have no doubt that she spends it on her husband's campaign," Oliver said. "You can see that with the plane or the SUV he doesn't own."
Oliver, 27, has a master's degree in art history from Bowdoin College in Maine and is applying to business school. Three of her co-founders are her brothers, and the others are friends.
"Our oldest member is 43 and the youngest is 23, that's my little brother," Oliver said.
The group says the "W" in the brand name stands for George Washington, even though they are behind George W. Bush's re-election.
Used own money
Oliver and her co-founders put up their own money for their company. Five percent of their profits go to the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for children of active-duty service members killed in the line of duty.
W Ketchup is available through the Web site, www.wketchup.com, and Oliver said it should be available in stores starting next week.
W Ketchup uses a private-label ketchup manufacturer, the Freemont Co. in Ohio.