Africa: Big Daddy Stays & Grows

The white knight of black Africa is the "Omo man," who wanders from vil lage to village. Dressed in candent cot tons, he passes out sample boxes of Omo detergent, a fast-bubbling profit maker turned out by Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch combine that is the world's sixth biggest company. People grab up the giveaways, not only because each box top can be redeemed for ten more samples at the local Unilever-owned store, but also because the Omo man is plugged by radio ads that suggest he possesses supernatural powers. Say the commercials: "As a snail dies the day it tastes...

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