• Ad Age, Wednesday, December 7, 2005 12 PM

Tyson Foods has faith that consumers will buy their products, and as such the company is helping them pray. The food marketer now provides free downloadable prayer booklets on its Web site that contain mealtime prayers appropriate for faiths ranging from Christian to Muslim. The move has all the makings of a possible trend toward "faith-friendly" marketing tactics among marketers trying to appeal to spiritual Americans. "There is a broader trend among bigger businesses to be faith-friendly employers, acknowledging that employees don't want to leave their soul in the parking lot," said David Miller, director of the Yale Divinity School's Center for Faith and Culture and a professor of business ethics. This strategy makes sense, since statistics show that 95 percent of Americans believe in some sort of higher being and identify at some level with a faith. The trick is not to appear to be using religion to sell products, Mr. Miller said.

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