Florida Seeks Juice Boost

(CBS/AP)  Drinking orange juice will help Florida rebuild from the damage of hurricanes that blew through the state this season, according to a television advertisement approved Wednesday by the Florida Citrus Commission.

The 15-second national television spot shows the names and dates of the three hurricanes that struck Florida's citrus-producing areas in August and September: Charley, Frances and Jeanne. The spot then shows close-up, still images of orange juice being poured into a glass as an announcer says, "Every glass you drink is helping rebuild Florida. We thank you."

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Citrus released a citrus estimate that showed the orange crop 27 percent smaller and the grapefruit crop 63 percent tinier than last year's crops due to the hurricanes.

The estimate called for the orange crop to produce 176 million 90-pound boxes, the smallest size in 11 years, and the grapefruit crop to produce 15 million 85-pound boxes, the smallest size since the 1937-38 season.

Because of the smaller crop, orange growers stand to make between $2.57 to $4.32 per box sent to juice processors this season, an increase of 96 cents to $1.33 more than they did last season, according to estimates released Wednesday by Mark Brown, an economist at the Department of Citrus.

The increased prices for orange growers are expected to have little effect on the price of orange juice at retail stores, which will stay in the range of $4.50 to $4.60 per gallon for the 2004-2005 growing season compared to $4.45 per gallon this past season, according to the estimate.

A fourth hurricane, Ivan, hit in the Florida Panhandle, well away from Florida's citrus groves.

The hurricanes ad will run in November, on a media buy worth $1.2 million, along with two new ads the Florida Department of Citrus plans to run geared toward the start of flu season. The citrus department hopes to capitalize on renewed concerns about the flu since it was revealed that half of the nation's flu vaccine supply is not available because of contamination problems at a British supplier's plant.

One ad shows a narrator talking to a camera saying "If you're concerned about catching the flu, move to a deserted island and avoid people for six months." The ad than switches to a scene of a man on an island next to a monkey who sneezes repeatedly. Or, the narrator says, "You can drink Florida orange juice."

The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services estimated that the damage from storms Charley and Frances alone cost the industry $2 billion. The nursery industry took the biggest hit. Citrus growers were slammed for about $400 million.