Lopez Obrador Says Mexican Businesses Helped Calderon

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Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sabritas, a unit of Pepsico Inc., and Grupo Jumex SA, are among companies that ran advertising during the presidential campaign that illegally helped his opponent, Felipe Calderon.

At a news conference today in Mexico City, Lopez Obrador played copies of the ads, spliced for comparison with commercials for Calderon, showing Sabritas had used the slogan ``clean hands'' in a chips commercial in which the actors referred to the election. ``Clean hands'' was among the most commonly used lines in the Calderon campaign.

Pepsico International Ltd. spokesman Richard Detwiler said Mexico's Federal Electoral Commission approved all of its election-themed commercials before their release.

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Lopez Obrador, who has asked the country's Federal Electoral Court to invalidate results of the July 2 election, said the ads amounted to undeclared campaign spending.

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