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Blue Chips Ahoy

The recent revelation that Saddam Hussein has a taste for Jay Leno-approved nacho-cheese chip Doritos has sent shock waves through the snack food industry. I recently contacted PepsiCo’s board of directors about their thoughts on the shocking, possibly treasonous, matter. (Disclosure: PepsiCo owns Frito Lays which owns Doritos which holds a majority stake in low culture heavy industries.)

From: guy v. cimbalo [[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 12:13 AM
To: SPA – Board Of Directors {PEP}
Subject: Investment Concerns
Dear Sirs and Madames:
I am very concerned about recent revelations that Saddam Hussein enjoys Doritos. This man is a tyrant, while Doritos should represent peace, justice, and American snack food at its best.
PepsiCo. forms a large part of my mutual fund’s investment portfolio and I have begun to feel that I should divest myself of the holdings.
I would like to know what Frito-Lay intends to do in order to quell this public relations nightmare.
Yours,
Guy Cimbalo


Their response after the jump…


From: ‘Hart, Julie {FLNA}’ <[email protected]>
To: ”[email protected]”
Sent: Mon Jun 27 17:47
Subject: Fwd: RE: Investment Concerns
Dear Mr. Cimbalo:
As a PepsiCo shareholder, we are certain you are aware that our broad portfolio of products are available in almost 200 countries around the world. The recent revelation that Saddam Hussein was offered our products while under United States custody in a foreign country is not surprising given the worldwide presence of our products and the appeal of our brands.
As with most recent world events, the media have seized on this revelation as well. And to be clear, at no time did our company play any role in calling attention to Mr. Hussein’s eating preferences. In all candor, we were as surprised as the other companies mentioned among his preferred food brands. And as with most news of this type, we expect that the coverage will wane and there are indications that is already has.
We trust that this information clarifies the situation.
Frito-Lay Consumer Affairs

5 replies on “Blue Chips Ahoy”

What would you do in their situation but send something bland and placating?
My company has a product named “Evolution” and we occasionally got fundamentalists writing in to ask if we were endorsing darwinism. Probably half the people writing in were genuinely serious, and half were making fun, but I had no idea which was which. So, I just wrote back nice bland notes about nothing that seemed to assuage most of them (although one person did say they would refuse to use our product unless we renamed it…)

On a similar note: Maybe George Bush should get an endorsement deal from Tampax since he’s such a bitch?

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