Investments: An Affirmative Action

As April 15 fast approaches, financial institutions are vying to attract customers for tax-deferred Individual Retirement Accounts. San Francisco's Continental Savings of America (assets: $346 million) last week began offering an IRA with a difference. The S and L is giving women depositors an 11.5% interest rate on new IRAs, but only 11% to men. At the higher rate, a female saver will earn nearly $47,000 more than a male if both contribute the annual individual maximum of $2,000 for 30 years. Says Susan Loughridge, a Continental senior vice president: "It's our theory that women entered the work force later and haven't planned for their retirement. This is a way to catch up." The response was brisk: on the first day the new accounts were | available, 63 women deposited $114,501. During a typical day before the promotion, only three or four women opened IRAs.

While few male customers complained about reverse discrimination, the California attorney general's office may challenge the new IRAs in court as a violation of state civil rights law. Continental hopes that its IRA policy can survive legal scrutiny. If not, the bank will offer the higher 11.5% rate to all comers--regardless of sex.

Clara Peller first cried, "Where's the beef?" for Wendy's a year ago. The diminutive octogenarian actress made the phrase a part of the language and helped Wendy's sales jump 31% last year, to $945 million, at the company's 3,095 fast-food restaurants worldwide. She will ask the question no more, at least for Wendy's. The firm decided last week to end its relationship with Peller. Reason: she made a commercial for Campbell's Prego Plus Spaghetti Sauce in which she says, "I found it."

Peller was almost as angry as she gets in the Wendy's commercials. As she read her agreement with Wendy's, which paid her more than $500,000 in 1984, she was free to do commercials for products that did not compete with Wendy's hamburgers, and spaghetti sauce certainly does not. She was even given general clearance by Wendy's to do a pitch for Campbell, but then Wendy's saw it and beefed. Said Denny Lynch, a vice president of Wendy's: "Clara can find the beef only in one place, and that is Wendy's." Then he added, "We don't have a beef against Clara or Campbell. We love her and we are sad to see her go." To which Peller responded poppycock, or, more to the point, where's the beef? Said she: "I've made them millions and they don't appreciate me."