Newcastle Brown Ale has already attempted to hijack Dorito’s Crash the Super Bowl campaign, the crowd-sourced ad competition. And global advocacy group Sum of Us has followed suit by releasing a parody ad showing that a penchant for corn chips is impacting the rainforests of Asia.
As it says on the website: “Rainforests across Southeast Asia are being destroyed every day to make way for massive palm oil plantations, where workers, even children, are trapped in modern slavery to cultivate the vegetable oil. The clearing of these rainforests and peatlands are driving many species like the orangutan and Sumatran tiger to the brink of extinction, while also polluting the Earth’s atmosphere by releasing gigatons of greenhouse gases. Each year, PepsiCo buys 427,500 tonnes of palm oil. Given how high profile the Doritos Super Bowl campaign is, we’re using this opportunity to let consumers around the world know about PepsiCo’s irresponsible palm oil sourcing policy. there’s never been a better time to spread the message and make friends, family and colleagues aware of PepsiCo’s practices.”
PepsiCo wasn’t happy about the slap and a spokesperson told just-food it is “absolutely committed to 100 percent sustainable palm oil with zero deforestation in its activities and sourcing”.
“This latest public relations stunt, focused on fiction rather than facts, does nothing to foster positive dialogue or affect positive change. We find our policies effective and stand by them,” the spokesperson said.
