Political ketchup delivers message in a bottle

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NEW YORK — A Manhattan banker and his pals want to cash in on Teresa Heinz Kerry's unpopularity with conservatives by marketing "W Ketchup," billed as a GOP alternative to the Heinz family's famous condiment.

"About 6 weeks ago, I was sitting around at a barbecue with my friends and we realized that every time we bought the ketchup, we were sending a little bit over to her," Bill Zachary said of the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry. Zachary leads a small investment group of Republicans. "Obviously, we're selling a lot in the [Bush-leaning] red states. But we're also selling it to Democrats who want to buy a cool gift for their archconservative father-in-law."

Their ketchup — which retails at $12 per four-pack — features the likeness of George Washington, not President Bush. Zachary says he used the different "W" to avoid accusations that his ketchup was an "overt campaign ad."

A portion of each sale will benefit the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for the children of service members killed in the line of duty. The ketchup is available at www.wketchup.com.

The H.J. Heinz Co., meanwhile, is trying to dispel the notion that revenue from ketchup sales will benefit Kerry's campaign.

Heinz Kerry, who was married to Republican Sen. H. John Heinz III when he was killed in a 1991 plane crash, is not on Heinz's board and is not involved with company management, company spokeswoman Debbie Foster said. Heinz Kerry, her children with John Heinz, and The Heinz Endowments, which she chairs, collectively own less than 4 percent of the company's stock.