Hershey shareholders let 'em have it ...

I know I said I was done with Hershey ...... but this is significant, if only that the media reports of this story mention the plant closure in Smiths Falls, and any exposure for the Town from this story has got to be good... Especially when, amongst others it's Forbes, ABCMoney in the UK, and another in France. You just never know who might be reading these publications and take notice.

The chairman and chief executive of The Hershey Co. faced shareholders for the first time Tuesday since announcing hometown job cuts and a major overseas expansion, and insisted to a divided audience that he was doing the right thing for the company.

Richard H. Lenny, the first Hershey Co. chief executive hired from outside the century-old company, did not apologize or back down.....

"Like it or not, that's the job," Lenny said, adding that, "We are making decisions that we believe are in the best interests of the company."

Lenny contended the company took pains to extend benefits to affected workers, and scolded people in the audience who criticized him, but had never had to order layoffs.

"None of you knows how difficult it is," Lenny said.

"None of you knows what we go through."

Ahh ... he's upset.. until he receives his multi-million salary for driving a century-old, once-proud company into the ground.

Here's a hint ... I just wonder maybe, before laying off, you might try an aggressive marketing campaign based on the fact that Hershey is such a company ... Still controlled by a charitable trust for god's sake .. Proud to be American, Canadian, whatever... if you need to, raise you prices the dime or whatever per bar you're going to save by setting up shop in Mexico...if I want a chocolate bar 10 cents is not going to make a bit of difference. Put the friggin' flag right on the package. I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of people like me who are sick and tired of companies bailing on us for the easy buck .... do you think Lou Dobbs is still in one of the best slots on CNN, running the same story over and over and over again by accident ???

One more thing .. I did buy a chocolate bar yesterday .. A KIT-KAT !! PRODUCT OF CANADA proudly displayed on the package ... Way to go, that's exactly what I'll be buying from now on.

RELATED:The editorial pages from the Reckless carry a letter from PA ... to paraphrase ..

"we consumers can send them the message .... dribble ... if you chose not to be in our community by eliminating jobs in Hershey and Canada, then maybe you don't deserve our money, either"

Hope the China Chocolate Bar unveiled at the Annual meeting goes well for ya Lenny... I'm not puttin' my money on it.