From Red State Dems

Source. (Tipped by JMG reader Tod)

Carol Channing For Pepsi-Cola

Pepsi Debuts New Beyonce Ad

The ad also previews her coming single, Grown Woman.

Beyonce Inks $50M Pepsi Deal

Beyonce has signed a $50M deal to make her the global face of Pepsi.

There are few details - but the Pepsi website says the pairing will form what the soda-maker calls "one of the most innovative global partnerships ever seen - or heard." The deal with Beyonce is the latest in Pepsi's "Live For Now" campaign that already features acts like Nicki Minaj and One Direction. Pepsi says the Beyonce deal will be rolled out on February 3 - when Beyonce performs at halftime of the Super Bowl. As part of the deal, the superstar will collaborate with designers on all advertising materials, including cans and bottles that feature her image. She'll also star in a global TV commercial campaign scheduled to launch next year.

Pepsi, as you may recall, has had somewhat of a cursed history with its pop music partners. In 1989 they canceled their ad campaign with Madonna after the American Family Association called for a Pepsi boycott due to the religious imagery in her video for Like A Prayer.  And then there was that Michael Jackson Jheri curl fire debacle in 1984.

Anti-Gay Russians To Picket "Gay Milk"

Russian anti-gay activists say they will picket PepsiCo because there's a gay-ass rainbow on their milk carton.

The milk brand is called Vesyoly Molochnik, which translates as Gay Milkman, though in Russian the word vesyoly does not suggest homosexuality. The group said that it was objecting to the rainbow, which it saw as the international symbol for the gay movement. The group said on Friday that it has asked prosecutors to take action because the packaging violated the law passed in St. Petersburg in February, which makes it illegal to spread "propaganda" that could "damage the health, moral and spiritual development of the underaged". The offence carries a fine of up to 500,000 roubles ($16,100).

Freep This Poll For GLSEN

Pespi is giving away boatloads of money to organizations that have "great ideas" and today is the final day to vote for the Gay & Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), who wants to place Safe Space kits in 10,000 public schools. Right now GLSEN is in third place to win a $250,000 grant for the project. Note: You can vote with your Facebook login and that doesn't appear to place any message on your page. Clickety-click, y'all.

Jeebus Tastes Like Doritos

Catholics and Freepers have launched a petition against this entry in a contest in which the winning ad will be aired during the Super Bowl. Currently, this clip leads in the voting. Wait until Bill Donohue sees it!

(Tipped by JMJ reader Lynda)

INDIA: Pepsi's "Gay" Commercial

In this Pepsi commercial from India, a young woman's male friend pretends to be the lover of her fiance in order to help her break up her arranged marriage. An Indian filmmaker discusses what the commercial may mean about changing attitudes towards gays:

This advert is extremely interesting comment on today’s India, as most ads and images always are. On the one hand homosexual relationships are respectfully normalized in this ad. There are no snide looks or jeers by the four parents who are shocked to realize this fact about the boy; their reactions never stoop to mockery. There are no ‘hai hai, ya allah, yeh zamana kahan ja raha hai’ (O my god, where is the world headed too) looks or reactions. From the point of view of accepting people with different (or multiple) sexual orientations, this ad is truly celebratory and the makers need to be commended for it.

Interestingly, however, the girl in this seemingly ‘progressive’ ad continues to be denied her agency to decide what is good or bad for her. Her power relation with her parents continues to be in the previous century, though she has 21st century friends who are cool enough to act (very soon ads will have normal homosexuals too and not just pretenders) as gays without demeaning gays. If we use Pepsi’s cola colored lens to understand young India, it looks like it is saying ‘homosexuality – okay’, ‘girls having wild male friends – okay’, ‘parents deciding who their girls should marry – okay too’.

Obviously the person who titled this clip for YouTube feels differently.

PhoboQuotable - Greg Quinlan

"Ms. Nooyi, you lead PepsiCo’s Diversity and Inclusion Governance Council. I don’t want to hear any more words from you about diversity and inclusion -- I want you to actually practice it. As for Peggy Moore, who represents PepsiCo on the PFLAG Board Workplace Diversity Committee, she should be fired because she doesn’t know the first thing about diversity if she can’t respect people like me. And PepsiCo should resign immediately from PFLAG’s so-called Diversity Committee. Why would PepsiCo sit on a committee that defines diversity to only include those people whose religious ideology they agree with?

"Ms. Nooyi and PepsiCo Board of Directors, do you make these decisions because of replicated scientific studies supporting specific biological etiology for homosexuality? I can answer that for you. You can’t because there is zero evidence. ZERO that anyone is born homosexual. Once again, I urge the PepsiCo Board of Directors, yes; each and every one of you, to do your jobs and hold PepsiCo to the ideals and standards it claims to follow. I shouldn’t have to come here year after year asking PepsiCo to stop funding hate against people like me. " PFOX president Greg Quinlan, screaming to PepsiCo's board of directors at their annual shareholders meeting.

"Ex-gay" loser Quinlan has his delicate, finely-laced pink panties in a twist because PepsiCo has contributed to PFLAG and the Human Rights Campaign.

HomoQuotable - Greg Quinlan

"We now know that Pepsi has given over a million dollars to the Human Rights Campaign and to another hate group called PFLAG, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays -- an organization that tells parents that their children are born homosexual. Therefore they must accept them and that the only way to love them is to accept, embrace that homosexual lifestyle. This is extremely troubling because now what is happening is that the PepsiCo Corporation is using our money -- whether you're a shareholder or whether you're a customer -- [they're] using your money to promote hate against Christians and other people of faith." - PFOX "ex-gay" spokesdouche Greg Quinlan, who plans on confronting Pepsi executives at their annual stockholders meeting.

Cola War: PFOX Vs. PFLAG

"Ex-gay" nutters PFOX are trying to get PepsiCo shareholders riled up because the company made a donation to PFLAG. Via World Net Daily:

PFOX alleges that PepsiCo is the leading corporate sponsor of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Inc., whose recent publication, a Faith Field Guide, urges PFLAG members to protest against religious conferences that feature formerly homosexual speakers. The guidebook labels the "ex-gay" conferences as "anti-gay," and prompts the protests "to remind people that there is more than one faith message." PFOX questions, however, why a soft-drink company that has declared itself to be "committed to diversity and inclusion without imposition of personal judgment" would exclusively back one side of a theological debate. "Why does PepsiCo fund organizations like PFLAG, which issue religious publications urging readers to undermine other religions with which PFLAG disagrees?" asked Regina Griggs, executive director of PFOX, in a statement. "Is this the best use of PepsiCo funding?

PFLAG encourages members to protest against the "ex-gay" conferences run by Focus On The Family. Griggs: "Why does PepsiCo continue to fund organizations which hate the ex-gay community? PepsiCo's actions adversely affect its public image, goodwill and stock value."

ACTION: Send an appreciative message to PepsiCo's Investor Relations office for their support of PFLAG: investor@pepsico.com.

Pepsi Sponsors Uganda Concert By Murder Music Artist Beenie Man

Box Turtle Bulletin reports that Pepsi sponsored Uganda concerts by murder music reggae singer Beenie Man. BTB notes the following story in a Uganda newspaper.

The King of Dancehall stuck a sword of words into gay people through singing and talking. “In my family, we don’t have any gay person but if you’re gay, my brother that’s not my fault,” he said as he performed his song Mi Nah Wallah, in which he says he would like to cut the throats of all gay men. George Bush and Bin Laden were also at the receiving end of the Jamaican’s wrath calling on the audience to say “murderer” as he sang about the pair’s warfare. The show was sponsored by Pepsi and it doubled as the Crown Beverages’ Chamuka Keys Finale with three RAV4 winners presented on stage to join 17 previous winners in receiving their car log books.

This promotion was likely organized by a local Pepsi bottler without the knowledge of Pepsi's home office. Over on Change.org, a form has been created to complain to Pepsi headquarters and demand that their affiliates do not sponsor musical acts that call for the murder of gay men. As you may know, Uganda is considering a bill that may impose the death penalty for some homosexual acts. At best, the bill will call for life imprisonment.

UPDATE: Pepsi disavows knowledge of the performer's anti-gay stance and promises it won't happen again.

Thanks for contacting us today and giving us a chance to respond. We just wanted you to know that, much like you, we are appalled by the performer’s lyrics and find them repugnant. We are not associated with him in any way. Our bottling partner in Uganda was not aware of the performer's views and never would have sponsored the concert with this knowledge. Moving forward, we will work closely with our bottling partners to be more vigilant about the events associated with our brands. Thanks again for reaching out.

Sincerely,
Dave DeCecco
PepsiCo Media Bureau

(Update via Father Tony)

American Family Association Claims 500K Are Boycotting Pepsi Over Gay Support

The American Family Association is claiming that 500,000 of its members have signed a pledge to boycott PepsiCo because of the company's support of the "homosexual culture war."

American Family Association asked PepsiCo to be neutral in the culture war and not support the homosexual agenda. PepsiCo refused. The company continues to give financial support to homosexual organizations. PepsiCo gave $500,000 to Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and another $500,000 to the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). The total of $1,000,000 was used to help promote homosexuality in the workplace. HRC and PFLAG were major supporters of efforts to defeat Proposition 8 in California, which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. HRC gave $2.3 million to the effort to defeat Prop 8.

Via Raw Story:

The Pepsi boycott seems to be having some effect within the Christian conservative community. Last month, the Westboro Baptist Church, of "God hates fags" fame, protested in downtown Atlanta with signs that read "God hates Diet Pepsi." Last month, Bell Shoals Baptist, a mega-church in Brandon, Florida, removed its Pepsi vending machines and replaced them with Coke machines. "We fight this battle one skirmish at a time," said Terry Kemple, the Bell Shoals member who organized the vending machine change, in an interview with the Brandon News & Tribune. "Our forefathers came here for religious liberty, not sexual liberty." But the church's switch from Pepsi to Coke -- which other Florida churches joined -- may have been a strategic mistake. As Bridgette LaVictoire reported on the LezGetReal blog, "Coca Cola has consistently scored higher on the Human Rights Campaign’s list of LGBT friendly businesses" than Pepsi. "The AFA [is] furious with PepsiCo over their diversity training, which is actually not quite as good as Coca Cola’s, and their work place support of LGBT individuals, which is not quite the same level of support as seen in Coca Cola Corp.," she wrote.

Pepsi's Gay Ad

The latest ad from Pepsi plays on the old "Surprise! He's a HOMO!" schtick. Meh. Not too funny, but not really offensive - except maybe the expressions on the faces of the male friends. Of course, this ad (which is only running in the UK) is just more fuel for the doomed-to-fail-anyway boycott of Pepsi by the American Family Association.

AFA's Latest Soon-To-Fail Boycott

The American Family Association routinely announces boycotts of corporations that have made gay-friendly advertising, employment, or charity decisions. And about a year later, when the boycott remains virtually unnoticed by the American consumer, the AFA fabricates the concession of the company in question and announces the triumphant end to their boycott.

Today's target is PepsiCo.

PepsiCo has refused a request by AFA to remain neutral in the culture war. The company indicated that it will continue major financial support of homosexual organizations. AFA wrote Pepsi two times (on October 14 and October 29) requesting a meeting to discuss Pepsi's neutrality in the culture war. On November 17, AFA received a condescending letter (dated Nov. 7) from Paul Boykas, director, public policy, in which he refused to address Pepsi's support of the homosexual agenda.

In the last two years, Pepsi has given $500,000 to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and $500,000 to the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). The $1,000,000 was to be used to help promote homosexuality in the workplace. Pepsi refuses to give money to any pro-family organization that opposes the homosexual agenda. Plus, every homosexual organization we know of is overwhelmingly pro-abortion. Both HRC and PFLAG supported efforts in California to defeat Proposition 8 which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. HRC, the homosexual group financially supported by Pepsi, gave $2.3 million to defeat Prop 8. Pepsi forces all employees to attend sexual orientation and gender identity diversity training where they are taught to accept homosexuality.

In a few months, expect the AFA to victoriously announce the tumbled revenues of PepsiCo, followed a few months later by the AFA claim that Pepsi has agreed to abandon gay-friendly policies. Lying makes the Baby Jeebus cry, y'all.

Pepsi Gives $500K To PFLAG

Ah, finally some GOOD news today! PepsiCo has donated $500K to Straight For Equality, PFLAG's program to reach straight allies of the LGBT community who don't have a traditional family connection to an LGBT person.

In a move that may upset conservative organizations and leaders, the PepsiCo Foundation has given a grant of $500,000 to Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays to support Straight for Equality, a national education campaign, and to fund training and chapter support.

PFLAG is a national organization made up of chapters of parents of members of the LGBT community. Chapters serve multiple roles, including support for parents who have recently learned a child is gay, community education, and engaging parents and friends in the struggle for LGBT equality.

"PepsiCo has provided PFLAG with an enormous gift, and an unparalleled opportunity, to demonstrate the power we have to create change, no matter where we are, or who we are," PFLAG executive director Jody M. Huckaby said in a statement released earlier today. "Because of the Foundation's generosity and commitment, we now have the resources to produce materials for our chapters to use in their communities, and to create critically important conversations, in every corner of our country."

"We are delighted to continue our partnership with PFLAG," Jacqueline Millan, Director of PepsiCo Corporate Contributions, said in the same statement. "The Straight for Equality in the Workplace training program is unique in that it is promoting the necessary message of inclusion to untapped groups within the local community, and that is a crucial step towards building a healthy working environment."

Expect the wingnuts to add Pepsi to their lengthy list of boycotts: Ford, Hallmark, Miller, electricity, oxygen, peristalsis.

(Via - PageOneQ)