In a surprise to absolutely nobody, PepsiCo have once again shown that their weird little niche seems to be offending everybody, all at once.
This week’s PR disaster is their chief executive Indra Nooyi putting her whole damn leg in her mouth, floating the idea of a female-friendly, quiet corn chip, that caters to the innate wish inside every woman to remain silent and small.
via GIPHY
Yes, this actually happened:
“Men lick their fingers with great glee…women would love to do the same, but they don’t. They don’t like to crunch too loudly in public.”
Essentially, Nooyi would like to market snacks directly to women, and has discussed launching these low-crunch alternatives to the wider market.
This is interesting on a million different levels.
First of all, I personally have no issue crunching on cheese supreme outside of my apartments four walls, so #notallwomen can be tarred with the too scared to maybe make more noise with their teeth than normal brush.
Secondly, why is it that some women are worried about being too loud while EATING (read: something to do to survive). Is it because the chips are the problem? Or is it because society demands a level of demureness and fragility traditionally associated with femininity, and the cross-section of eating a chip in public and bending that delicate ‘rule’ becomes anxiety-inducing?
NO, surely it is the chip. So, instead of making a point about gender norms and heavy societal expectation heaped upon women, let’s just, I don’t know, make a quiet chip for the quiet ladies.
At the end of the day, do whatever you want – eat chips, don’t eat chips, be loud, be quiet.
But as soon as a global businesses start playing into problematic gender stereotypes, be very loud.
Crunch very loud indeed.
Eat chips loudly at all the best events on this week.
