• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, July 22, 2010

If large numbers of people dressed as superheroes are clogging the streets around Manhattan's Penn Plaza on July 27, blame New Leaf Brands, the Old Tappan, N.J.-based maker of all-natural, ready-to-drink iced teas and lemonades.  

Looking to tap into the large pool of unemployed recent graduates, New Leaf is "casting" a team of "Defenders of Taste," who must show up at the audition dressed as superheroes.

The Defenders, dressed in hard-to-ignore (even in Manhattan) green-and-black costumes that include head goggles and shields bearing the New Leaf logo, will pilot a branded vehicle around the city dispensing New Leaf samples and searching for "taste offenders."

When they spot someone drinking a beverage containing high-fructose corn syrup or artificial ingredients, the Defenders will blow whistles, throw flags, and issue taste-offense "citations."

While it's doubtful that Tobey Maguire or Robert Downey Jr. will be trying out, it probably beats carrying a sandwich board.