Why Are Texans Boycotting Pepsi? Hint: It’s Not the Taste
Throughout my adult life, I have seen or heard of people boycotting things based on their beliefs. It makes sense, you can approve or disapprove of a companies policies and standards with your wallet. Basically, if you don't like the way company "A" does things - you can take your money to company "B." While I do respect each and every one of my American brother's and sister's right to protest - some of this stuff is just stupid.
Take the latest boycott in Texas. According to KXAN, news broke yesterday that PepsiCo had donated to the Texas Republican party. Now the hashtag #boycottpepsi was trending after PepsiCo was named with a number of other companies that have donated to republican politicians in the Lone Star State that had a hand in enacting Texas’ controversial abortion law. While that is as fine of a reason to protest a soft drink as any other, the issue is a bit more complicated.
The left-leaning website Popular Info was the first to break the news, but even in the report that names PepsiCo as one of the donating companies - it's noted that these donations likely occurred well before the controversial abortion decision was made. To make things even murkier, representatives with PepsiCo claim that they made donations to both the democratic and republican parties in Texas in 2020.
Despite numerous, verifiable donations to organizations on both sides of the political spectrum, protesters and social justice warriors are continuing to call for Pepsi Boycotts in Texas.