Armchair Pundits

I knew I drank Diet Coke for a reason

As many of our readers are now aware, PepsiCo President and CFO Indra Nooyi has inserted her foot into her mouth and in the process has angered quite a few people. Hugh Hewitt seems to be leading the charge for a Pepsi boycott.

Let me first comment on her description of America as the middle finger of the world’s hand. It was stupid. She could have instructed the graduates on not being bad Americans when they are conducting business out in the world without thinking up this stupid analogy. It was just dumb on her part. I also have another problem with her statement. It was vulgar. I know what she was doing. She wanted to show these young MBA graduates that she was “hip” and “with it.” Graduations are formal events. They are not events where you want to give anyone the finger, let alone discuss it. By doing so, Ms. Nooyi lowered the whole ceremony. Let’s leave that digit where it belongs … out on the highways (just kidding people).

Now I would like to make a few comments about the boycott. I’m not a big fan of boycotts and corporate protests. From an economic stand point I question their effectiveness unless they are organized and large. I know that corporations and, more specifically, the people who run them do stupid things. If I boycotted every company where an executive did or said something stupid, then I would have to start growing my own food and raising my own livestock.

Am I advocating a boycott of Pepsi? No. Am I saying you shouldn’t boycott them? No. If you feel strongly about it, go ahead. I am a fan of the competitive free market. I recently had a problem with MCI and because of that I switched my long distance service. Consumers are free to select the products and services that they desire. Personally, I drink mainly Coke products. I prefer Poweraid to Gatorade. I usually buy Old Dutch cheese curls rather than Cheetos. So, PepsiCo really doesn’t get a lot of my money to begin with. I may think about that before purchasing any of their products, But, if while dining with the Grisby clan I am offered some Doritos and some Mountain Dew to wash them down, I will not launch into a speech berating my hosts for purchasing such products.

And let’s be perfectly honest. Despite the statements released by PepsiCo, they really don’t care about your feed back on this issue. Yes, I know they say that in their statements, but that is only because they have to for customer service purposes. They realize that Ms. Nooyi said something stupid. But, they really don’t want to hear from you about it. Because, to them, it is just causing them to use extra resources to man their phone banks. By the way, if you are going to call to complain about this, please do not take it out on the customer service representative. It is not their fault and that person can do nothing about it. So, at least be nice.

So, have a Coke and a smile.

posted by Squirrel @ 12:06 PM