I just read a very interesting article in Advertising Age (from last month) stating that larger food companies have increased marketing/advertising spending recently by over 10% on average .  In the same article, it mentions that other large consumer packaged goods companies in different segments have slashed ad spending significantly due to rising commodity costs, [...]

Everyone knows it, and office banter seems to keep reverting back to economic grumblings. Gas is at an all-time high, home ownership is becoming unreachable for the middle class, and foreclosures are increasing - yet salaries are stagnant. Sadly, we have seen this hit the food industry pretty hard as a result. Commodity prices and [...]