Foster Pecks on Tyson

The latest Foster Farms commercial airing on television stations in California appears to be a direct slam at Tyson Foods of Springdale.

In the commercial, two chickens are traveling in a beat up 1967 Plymouth Belvedere and try to cross the state line into California. But they’re turned away by a state trooper. As they drive back toward middle America, one says to the other, “Why did you have to show him your Arkansas driver’s license?”

There are 19 different “Foster impostors” commercials, which were developed by San Francisco-based advertising firm Goody, Silverstein and Partners. The first one aired in 1993, but the latest is the first one we’ve heard of that specifically mentions Arkansas.

According to Foster Farms’ Web site, “The Foster impostors will try just about anything to become fresh Foster Farms chickens, but for all of their efforts they just never make the grade.”

The Web-site comment about “fresh” Foster chicken apparently refers to legislation passed during the Clinton Administration that allowed poultry producers, including Tyson Foods, to ship frozen chicken across the United States and still call it “fresh.”