Foreword
Advertisements featuring the slogans "Beef. It’s what’s for dinner," "Behold the power of cheese," and "Got Milk?" are familiar to most Americans. What consumers may not know is that these campaigns are funded by mandatory assessments paid by commodity producers to boards set up through Congressional legislation. Dozens of these boards currently exist, representing such diverse interests as beef, lamb, popcorn, blueberries, and peanuts.Recently, these programs have generated controversy, with some producers objecting to the mandatory assessments and filed legal complaints. These producers have argued that the generic advertising was ineffective or also supported out-of-country competitors. In 1997, the U.S….
