TV & VIDEO - Feb. 13, 1987

Cybill Shepherd, spokeswoman for a $30-million effort to persuade people to eat beef, has angered some cattlemen with recent published comments that she tries to avoid red meat. Asked by Family Circle magazine to reveal her latest beauty tip, Shepherd was quoted as saying, “I’ve cut down on fatty foods and am trying to stay away from red meat.” The remark was not well received by beef backers, since Shepherd and actor James Garner star in a “Beef, Real Food for Real People” ad campaign sponsored by the National Beef Council. “I could just see Iowa producers everywhere revolting,” said Dorothy Faidley, chairwoman of the Iowa Beef Industry Council. “We are not taking this lying down,” said Rosetta Kamlowsky, promotion coordinator for the Montana Beef Council. Shepherd says her publicity office released quotes that “were not entirely correct.”