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Pepsi is at a crossroads: The company can speak out and use Pepsi’s clout against the “Kill the Gays” bill that the Ugandan Parliament is considering, which would make being gay punishable by death. Or Pepsi can keep doing what it's been doing, and stay silent -- and if the bill passes, bear part of the responsibility for the deaths of an unknown number of Ugandans.
Pepsi is a major player in the Ugandan economy, with the ear of key Ugandan officials. Over 114,000 members of the SumOfUs community, the vast majority of us Pepsi consumers, have signed our petition urging Pepsi to speak out. But so far, the company has refused to act -- and time is running out.
Every day we get closer to Christmas without the Ugandan Parliament considering the bill, it becomes more likely that our collective voices will have stopped this bill from becoming law. Our sources on the ground tell us that some MPs are wavering -- which means that additional pressure from Pepsi now could make a huge difference.
So we have a plan: We want to go to Pepsi later today and tell it that we’ve reserved ad space in a major industry magazine, Beverage World, which our allies tell us Pepsi execs and their competitors read religiously. If Pepsi speaks out against the “Kill the Gays” bill, our ad will be a giant “Thank you.” If it doesn’t, we’re going to call the company and its CEO, Indra Nooyi, out for refusing to take a moral stand against this atrocious legislation.
The problem is that right now, our concerns are sitting on the desk of Pepsi's PR team -- and they just want to make it go away so they can get home for the holidays. We have to get the attention of the CEO of Pepsi, Indra Nooyi. She personally may have the power to save the lives of brave LGBT men and women in Uganda. And we think this challenge will be what it takes to get this issue on her desk.
If Pepsi does speak out, its stance would ripple across Uganda’s entire government. That’s because Pepsi is a huge deal in Uganda. Through its subsidiary Crown Beverages Ltd., Pepsi has grown to be one of the largest beverage companies in the country, seeing its market share grow year after year. According to the Ugandan Prime Minister, Pepsi is making a “great contribution... to the growth of our economy in Uganda and to the well-being of our people.”
Yesterday, Pepsi responded to us -- but instead of taking action to stand up for the men and women in Uganda who are literally staring down death, Pepsi paid mealy-mouthed lip service to human rights in the abstract, and refused to do anything that would actually stand up for those rights in the real world.
Pepsi’s executives clearly think that, if they make even the slightest nod to the idea that human rights are a nice concept, then we’ll go away. The executives won’t have to do the hard work of actually standing up for the human rights of LGBTI Ugandans who, if this bill passes, will face the real risk of the receiving the death penalty for something as little as repeatedly holding the hands of someone of the same sex. We think that's unacceptable.
It’s not like the goal of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is a secret. David Bahati, the bill’s author, has said publicly that he believes every single gay person in Uganda should be killed. Bahati has extensive, well-documented ties to a secretive group of evangelicals called The Family that includes American Senators and well-known American pastors. When he initially proposed the bill two years ago, a global outcry forced the government to drop consideration of the bill last May.
Together, we’re going to make sure this bill gets put to rest once and for all, by putting Pepsi’s CEO in an uncomfortable position -- she could listen to us and speak out against this bill, or see Pepsi’s brand tarnished on the world stage. We think the choice couldn’t be more clear -- but we need to make sure we can afford to issue that challenge.
Click here to donate $20 -- or whatever you can -- now to help us reserve the ads.
Thanks for continuing to stand against hatred,
Taren, Kaytee, Rob, Claiborne, and the rest of us
P.S. Not convinced? Why don’t you read Pepsi’s weak response for yourself:
As a global company, PepsiCo works in countries with a broad array of laws and regulations. Regardless of where we operate, PepsiCo takes great care to weave diversity and inclusion into the very fabric of its culture, and respecting human rights is a fundamental priority for PepsiCo. We do not condone any action that would violate the human rights of any person anywhere.
Best Regards,
Andrea, Senior Consumer Relations Representative
1-800-433-2652 ext. 7904
