Customer Reviews

Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good : The Madcap Business Adventure by the Truly Oddest Couple

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is really several books between one set of covers. The entertaining, highly readable opening segment is the story of two men who didn't just break the rules to achieve business success: they took the rule book, set it on fire, and threw away the ashes. Anyone who has purchased "Newman's Own" products has probably noticed the label notation that all profits from the enterprise go to charity. But have you ever wondered how it all began?

"Newman's Own" wasn't the product of blinding insight or grand design. The story opens in December, 1980, as actor Paul Newman and his neighbor and friend, writer A.E. Hotchner, are hard at work in Newman's barn bottling up a small batch of the salad dressing Newman had created. What had started as a gift for neighbors and friends evolved in a couple of years into a thriving enterprise. We learn how they rejected the advice of the supposed experts in the areas of marketing, production and distribution and forged ahead based on a combination of gut instinct and sometimes blind luck.

As one Newman's Own product after another was added--pasta sauce, popcorn, lemonade--the growth of the enterprise steadily continued, much to the surprise and delight of the founders. For this allowed them to soar far higher with their philanthropic dreams than even they had envisioned.

The tone of adventuresome good humor recedes in the second major section of the book. Although Newman and Hotchner had been, and continue to be supportive of established charities, both felt the need to do something more--and so the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children with life-threatening illnesses was born. The initial camp soon became a model for others around the country and the world. The plight of these children is exceptionally moving and sad--but the story of the camps is one of hope, love, and affirmation of life.

There are several appendices, including a selection of letters from buyers of "Newman's Own." (Several of these are also quoted in the text. My favorite was from the woman who thought the products were great, and had also heard that Mr. Newman had been in films. She wanted to know what these films were and if any were available on home video.) There are also letters from children and parents about the Hole in the Wall Camp experience, plus some prize winning recipes from a contest "Newman's Own" co-sponsored with Good Housekeeping Magazine.

An entertaining and inspiring story.--William C. Hall

Everything I ever needed to know about successful entrepreneurship I learned from SHAMELESS EXPLOITATION. 1) It begins with a creative product, not in the search for a way to make money (sorry, Mr. Sinatra). 2) It begins with a product that fills a hole in a market (in this case, salad dressing made with fresh ingredients, no additives, conspicuously absent from mainstream grocery store shelves back in 1980). 3) Time-honored production and marketing methods can also be time-ragged and not right for your product. 4) Ask questions of everyone you know. 5) Put out a little venture capital and don't overreach (these guys put out $40,000 and lived within those means). 6) Don't compromise the integrity of your product, find ways to accommodate it. 7) There are other ways to publicize the product other than expensive advertising. 8) A movie star's name means nothing; it's all in the product and the hard work that goes into it (sorry, Frank). 9) You have to love and believe in your product. 10) You have to love the process of getting the product out there. 11) If you build it, they will come.

Everything I ever needed to know about pursuing the common good I learned from SHAMELESS EXPLOITATION: 1) Just do it. 2) Invite everyone to participate. 3) Miracles can happen.

Everything you ever needed to know about this book: 1) It's a fast read. 2) It's an honest read. 3) It's an insightful read. 4) It's an inspiring read. 5) The part about the charities served by Newman's own will blow your socks off. 6) The authors are highly entertaining tour guides of their adventure. 7) There are a few recipes to boot. 8) It is refreshingly free of those simplistic aphorisms that plague most business world books.

Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good details the almost accidental development of the Newman's Own line of foods, its eventual success, and how the founders, Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner, developed a new kind of charity to allow seriously ill children to attend summer camp. The book is filled with humor, good-hearted fun and a will to do good. Most people will find the overall effect to be heart-warming . . . except for the tendency to self-congratulation.

The book's is one part self-deprecating personal narrative, one part "advanced moving and shaking", one part "legend-making" tales, one part "I told you so" to the corporate "experts", one part funny stories from customers and one part business history mixed with two parts serious stories about young peoples' illnesses, three parts lessons about establishing a new charity, with a dash of recipes and cartoons for final humor. The mixture, while quite unusual, has a zestful freshness that leaves a taste for more.

If you are like me, you've never quite understood how Newman's Own came into existence and became a big success. I've tasted some of the products and find them to be of good quality. But there must be something more than that to it.

I was even more surprised to read in past news articles that all profits are distributed to charity annually. "Where in the world did the company get the working capital to stay in business?" was the question on my mind.

I also wondered how anyone would decide which charities to support and which to shun.

Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good answered all those questions and more for me.

I was deeply moved by the tale of starting up and running the Hole in the Wall camps for seriously ill youngsters, and intend to tell others about this good work.

What intrigued me most about the book was that it showed that doing the right thing could be amazingly commonsensical. The products are good because Paul Newman would not be satisfied until he thought they were. The packaging copy and promotional activities are zany, and reflect the good humor of the authors . . . not some copywriter. Profits and cash flow are good because the authors paid attention to setting up their business model so the company would need very little capital. Making the profits go to charity allowed the authors to have fun with the business in a way they could not have done if they had been trying to line their own pockets. The psychic and emotional satisfaction of establishing the camps and helping other charities are probably worth much more than any money can buy.

I hope that other talented people, whether they are prominent or not, will consider how they could follow some parts of what the authors did with their business or their charity. I thank them both for sharing the story in this entertaining book.

I've been a Newman's Own product fan since the salad dressings first appeared on the shelves of Stew Leonard's many years ago and have been hooked ever since. From the tomato sauces to the popcorn, lemonade and everything in between. But what I wasn't aware of is exactly where all that money goes...what are the charities? Who does Mr. Newman and Mr. Hotchner support?

In "Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good" you get a really good understanding of how nutty these two guys are, howe dedicated to their products and, most importantly, their compassion for the various charities they support including the "Hole in the Wall Camps" throughout the world as well as the school bus for the children of immigrant farm workers among others. The school bus, for example, was on it's last legs and their was absolutely no money to purchase a new one. Newman and company agreed to purchase a new one...with no strings attached...and, interestingly enough, a number of years later purchased another one when that one died.

It's a funny, feel good, break the rules book that I couldn't put down...not to mention the fact on my next trip to Stew Leonard's I loaded my cart with Newman's salad dressing, pasta sauce, lemonade and popcorn.

-Bill Sobel 12/7/03

The Newman's Own Company website opens with the phrase "It started Out As a Joke and Got Out of Control". This book - written by Newman's Own co-founders, the actor Paul Newman, and his business partner and fishing buddy, the writer A.E. Hotchner, tells the story of a company that began as a lark and became the first American company to be a successful company and philanthropic organization rolled into one.

For anyone who thinks that Paul Newman putting his name on something is enough to sell it, the truth is that celebrity food products are notorious failures. Moreover, the food business is one of the toughest to break into. The big guys like Kraft spend over a million dollars to develop a single new product and millions more advertising it; the stores charge exorbitant fees to stock new products and the race for prime eye-level shelving space in grocery stores is like being at one of those soccer match stampedes where people end up being crushed beneath the masses. Undaunted, Paul and "Hotch" put $40,000 into their venture, furnish an office with Paul's pool furniture and persevere, figuring that if their salad dressing actually tastes good, people will buy it. It turns out to be a formula that works and which they replicate again and again as they develop a whole line of food products.

Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward have lived their long married life in Westport, Connecticut far from the Hollywood scene. He comes across in the book as an unpretentious, interesting and fun guy - a far cry from the usual self-important and bloated Hollywood ego. His equally unpretentious buddy A.E. Hotchner is the author of numerous plays, articles, movie scripts and books (including a book about another great buddy of his, Ernest Hemingway). These two share a wickedly funny sense of humor that runs throughout this very well written and readable book. The addition of some very amusing letters written to the company add to the fun.

It's the story of a friendship, it's the story of a company, and it's the story of how corporate philanthropic giving can make a difference. It is also the most engaging story I've read about what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur.... a great product, vision, persistence, staying away from naysayers, ignoring conventional advice, creating innovative branding, packaging and marketing strategies and above all, maintaining a sense of humor.

A great read for just about anyone and a must read for anyone who wants to go into business for themselves!

This book is a fun light read, about a foray into business by the seat of their pants. This is certainly a sucess story that flies in the face of Strategic Planning.

Newman and Hotchner had great and expensive advise from the traditional gurus of business, and for their own reasons they went the exact opposite way, and it came through in spades.

This is realy refreshing in the business world, a smalltime producer of an innovative and all natural product subverting the traditional modes of business. Years before words like "all natural" and "organic" were in regular use at grocery stores, Paul Newman, of all people, was sneaking in under the radar and getting shelfspace and loyal customers.

Not only is their product good & fun, but in another 'accidental twist' they give one hundred percent of their profits ot charities. 100%! This fact alone was enough to make me read the book, and so many redeeming qualities made it hard to put down.

The book is light and not layden with industry jargon, has a bunch of entertaining anecdotes, cartoon strips, personal letters from customers and children, and a visually pleasing layout. The two are never self congratulatory, in fact they are more apt to poke fun of themselves and be modest..a pleasant aftertaste.

The second half of the book centers around the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps the pair set up for seriously ill children. These camps not only made a huge difference in the life of these campers but set off a series of these camps around the world.

The distance of our reach is far beyond what we ever dreamed.

This book will not disappoint, is fun, and a refreshing tale of business and life on your own terms.

Also recommended for ethical business books:

Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield [Ben & Jerry], Gary Erickson [Clif Bar], Anita Roddick [Body Shop]

What a delightful book, telling all about the inception of the "Newman's Own" brand of foods, which started as a joke and became more successful than its founders ever imagined! The cover says that it is a lesson in business mis-management -- or something to that effect --and that is such a good way to put it.

They did everything wrong: concocting the recipes; marketing the products; having a makeshift office (furnished with Newman's pool furniture, including an umbrella); finding people to make and distribute the products. It makes for a great tale, and the best part is that they have made TONS of money from it and charities have been the sole beneficiaries of their largesse. From $1 million the first year to $140 million in a recent year, the profits keep getting spent on doing good for others.

Newman's pickiness about his products have made them very desirable and have helped attracted followers who are very loyal to the name.

I knew about the charities funded by the company, but not much about the "Hole in the Wall Gang" camps that now are in operation all over the U.S. and beyond. What a wonderful gift Newman and Hotchner have given to these sick children.

This is an easy-reading book that entertains and makes one grateful that people like this are around.

'Shameless Exploitation' is actually two books in one - you get the tale of how the 'Newman's Own' started as a germ of an idea in Paul Newman's garage. Newman was legendary back then for commandeering the kitchen of restaurants he would frequent and whipping together his own salad dressings. He and co-founder Hotchner make light of their lack of business knowledge, but it's worth noting that much of their success is based on their innate sense of what is right, for example their unwillingness to compromise on the freshness of their product.

The latter third of the book details the duo's efforts in starting up the 'Hole in the Wall Gang' camps for sick children. The authors are passionate about this endeavour, as well they should be. It's outstanding work they're doing. Newman personally drives these projects, sometimes through the force and magnetism of his personality.

In fact, that's the thing that stands out in the book - this is no 'slap the celebrity name on the bottle' exercise. These two gentlemen are intimately involved in all aspects of the business. There's a comparison in the book to other celebrity food bits good bad - Frank Sinatra's tomato sauce venture is one example. It ran aground in less then two years, an unmitigated disaster. The difference? Sinatra simply loaned out his name and looked to scoop up the profits. By contrast, Newman and Hotchner are in this thing heart and soul. Plus, the product is superlative. That's the only way to get repeat buyers.

As of the book's printing, Newman's Own has donated over $137 million to charity. When they write Paul Newman's epitaph, that first paragraph is going to be a real stemwinder to capture the essence of the man.

So glad Paul Newman decided to make salad dressing and popcorn and spaghetti sauce. So glad he decided to donate the profits from his very successful company to set up camps for terminally ill children. So glad he didn't write a business plan but went with his instincts to achieve his goal. And so glad he did it with his good friend, AE Hotchner. This is a very inspiring book, and Paul explains why it was so difficult to put his photo on the products. If it helps sells products, then there will be more resources for the children. Newman and Hotchner have changed lives for the better forever. Feels good to buy their delicious products knowing the proceeds are helping children.

This book has come out in paperback with the shortened title of "In Pursuit of the Common Good". This was a fun book to read which both made me laugh and tear up. What Newman and Hotchner accomplished by just being themselves and making practical decisions is truly amazing. Their journey from making salad dressing to donating 200 million to charity illustrates that when people see a thing that makes sense in its goals and how it is run, they will pitch in both amazing amounts of money and time to help. What a wonderful creation the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps are.