Page 64 - Forbes India (December 2015)

CROSS BORDER thE wOnDERful COmpany — RESniCkS

day bike trip this summer.) In 2009, Pay It Forward
came the “Get Crackin’” ad campaign
marketing their pistachios and, in homes have at least one family
member working at the Wonderful
2013, 15-second clips hit the Super Co, the Resnicks have built sidewalks
Bowl, with recent spots featuring and installed solar-powered lights;
late-night host Stephen Colbert. (“I upgraded the local park with two
can’t make anyone cry in 15 seconds, soccer fields, a basketball court and
but we can make them laugh,” says a community centre; built a health
care clinic for employees (many of
Lynda, adding that 30-second ads in whom are likely to develop diabetes);
the Super Bowl were too expensive.) and even funded the town’s only
Undoubtedly aided by Stewart’s restaurant, Gabby’s, which opened
law degree, the Resnicks have also in September. Across the greater
proven to be adept at fighting legal Perhaps scarred by the bad publicity Central Valley region, the company
has more than tripled its education
they received in Fiji, the Resnicks
battles. Their mail-order collectibles are being much more proactive in funding since 2012. This year, it is
firm, Franklin Mint, was sued in 1998 the Central Valley, a historically spending more than $10 million,
by the estate and charitable foundation impoverished area where the vast helping support two preschools and a
of Princess Diana, which said the majority of the residents are Hispanic charter school that is due to get a new
firm did not have the right to use and farm workers. In Lost Hills, a gritty $25 million campus courtesy of the
Resnicks by the end of next summer.
town of 2,412 where half of the
profit from her image on keepsakes;
Franklin Mint filed a countersuit in
November 2002, alleging it was the spending millions on research to show safe drinking water by investing
victim of an ugly smear campaign. In the benefits of eating pomegranates, $600,000 in water infrastructure for
2011, five years after they sold Franklin and expects to release positive 77,600 people. They also say they
Mint, a settlement was reached. The results based on human trials. donated $5 million to rainforest
Resnicks were paid $50 million, all Regarding their water business conservation and other initiatives.
of which they donated to charity. in Fiji, they have been vilified as Fijian military dictators aside, the
The Federal Trade Commission greedy capitalists for hogging the couple knows the value of cultivating
(FTC) filed a complaint in 2010 archipelago’s precious water supply. powerful friends, whether at their
that the Resnicks’ POM Wonderful They bought Fiji Water in 2005 and Los Angeles mansion or their Arts
had used deceptive advertising started pumping out and bottling & Crafts lodge in Aspen, where they
when marketing the antioxidant- millions of pricey water bottles from spend several months a year. In
rich drink as being able to treat, a pristine aquifer. Meanwhile, island 2000, when the Democratic National
prevent or reduce the risk of natives didn’t always have water to Convention was held in Los Angeles,
heart disease, prostate cancer and drink themselves, due to crumbling the Resnicks hosted a cocktail
erectile dysfunction. In 2012, a and insufficient infrastructure. The party honouring Senator Dianne
federal judge agreed that some of Resnicks’ once friendly relations with Feinstein at their sprawling estate
the ads were misleading. In 2013, the volatile Fijian military junta turned in Beverly Hills, attended by then
FTC commissioners denied the sour in 2010, when the government California governor Gray Davis and
Resnicks’ appeal. In October 2015, announced a tax hike on the company, former US President Jimmy Carter.
the Resnicks asked the Supreme which leases the land and is one Other guests through the years have
Court to take the case. of the island’s biggest employers. included: Arianna Huffington, junk
bond billionaire Michael Milken,
The Supreme Court sided with
The Res nicks shut down operations
lawREnCE k. hO/lOS angElES timES / gEtty imagES Coca-Cola, which sold pomegranate each litre of water. Today, Fiji Water odd Supreme Court justice. “It’s a
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Yahoo News
the Res nicks in a separate case. In
temporarily before agreeing to pay the
anchor Katie Couric and even the
that instance, POM Wonderful sued
reported 45 percent tax increase on
blueberry juice under the Minute
who’s who of politics and media
operates three bottling production
and celebrity. It’s almost like old-
Maid brand, alleging that it shouldn’t
lines, up from one a decade ago, and
be able to market drinks with just
fashioned salons, where [Lynda]
last year shipped more than 250
0.3 percent of actual pomegranate
can bring people together,” a former
million bottles worldwide, an eightfold
executive and regular guest says.
increase since buying the business.
juice. In 2014, the court ruled that

It is the bestselling imported water
Wonderful could proceed with its
case. Coca-Cola has denied its labels
brand in the US. The Resnicks, who
t’s in the Central Valley where
were misleading. That trial is slated
for next year. Meanwhile, POM is
they are working to help locals access I Stewart first bought land in the
64 | FORBES INDIA DECEMBER 11, 2015 visited the island this summer, say they now have their biggest fight.