Controversial Doritos parody sparks heated online debate
A fake Doritos advertisement is sparking a real online debate about rainforest conservation in the palm oil industry.
The above video, titled "A Cheesy Love Story - The Ad Doritos Doesn't Want You to See," starts off as a seemingly hilarious fake ad for Doritos, featuring a blossoming romance that begins over a shared Doritos chip. The couple's relationship centers around a shared love of the snack with a bag of Doritos always visible in every one of their precious life moments and vacations. They bathe in Doritos, they get married wearing Doritos attire, and even spend their honeymoon on a Doritos Adventure, visiting the fictitious Doritos forest.
The video takes a turn for the serious, though, when the couple discovers the Doritos forest to be barren and empty. A caption then appears that says "Doritos*: *May contain traces of rainforest." That caption is immediately followed by "Doritos parent company, PepsiCo, buys 427,500 tonnes of palm oil every year. Palm oil production destroys rainforests & threatens species to the point of extinction."
A call to action appears at the end of the video, asking viewers to "tell Doritos & PepsiCo to adopt a responsible palm oil policy & save our rainforests."
The video was created by SumOfUs, an organization that describes itself as "a global movement of consumers, investors, and workers all around the world, standing together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable and just path for our global economy." Since originally uploaded to YouTube on January 11, the video has amassed over 500,000 views, inciting strong reactions from viewers, both in support of and against Doritos and PepsiCo's alleged faults in their palm oil policies.
"Rainforest Destruction and #GMO corn toxins. It would be nice to see the network hacked during the Stupidbowl Halftime Show to air this live! #Deforestation," commented YouTube user Cyberdoc.
"It is not Doritos fault that south american countries have a sustainability problem with their rainforests. If they would allow private land ownership we wouldn't have the problems that come from the tragedy of the commons," wrote YouTube user seanlolol2.
SumOfUs says they hope the video will influence PepsiCo to adopt a suitable palm oil policy.
""We are frustrated that a company the size of PepsiCo that owns Doritos hasn't introduced a palm oil policy that will reduce deforestation," Kaytee Riek, a SumOfUs spokesperson, told ABC. --
Kaytee would appreciate if you could correct that to eliminate deforestation," Riek said. "We also have a petition approaching 300,000 signatures on in that we have sent to PepsiCo. Hopefully all of this will convince PepsiCo to sit down at the table with us and address all of our concerns instead of writing them off," Riek said.
Riek also noted why SumOfUs is going after Doritos and PepsiCo instead of another corporate brand.
"PepsiCo is one of the last major purchasers (of palm oil) who doesn't have a sufficient policy around deforestations," Riek said. Riek said that some of the items currently lacking in PepsiCo's current policy are lack of commitment to tracing palm oil to its sources to the plantations where the fruit is grown, while PepsiCo allegedly only traces it to the mill.
Riek said SumOfUs would also like to see PepsiCo address their current policy by adequately covering the following items: upholding workers' rights, land tenure and labor rights, prohibit burning, clearly state no development on peatlands regardless of depth, include support for smallholders across the operations of producer companies in its global supply chain. and immediately asses the risks in its Indonesian and Malaysian supply chains, regions with the highest rates of deforestation and conflict caused by conflict palm oil.
Jay Cooney, a spokesperson from PepsiCo, provided the following statement.
"It is no surprise that SumofUs' continual mischaracterizations of our palm oil commitments are patently false and run counter to the positive reception our policies have received from expert organizations in this arena. PepsiCo has repeatedly stated that we are absolutely committed to 100 percent sustainable palm oil in 2015 and to zero deforestation in our 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."
Riek says that SumOfUs wishes to speak with PepsiCo on how the corporation hasn't adequately addressed their concerns over its palm oil policy. However, PepsiCo states that it has a suitable palm oil policy in place.
"We implemented a policy in 2009 to purchase only 100 percent sustainable palm oil and our commitment to zero deforestation, all of this is happening right now. We're absolutely committed to sustainable palm oil in 2015 and zero deforestation, that's this year." PepsiCo also provided a link as to where their palm oil policy can be found, underneath the Environmental Sustainability Policies section.
http://www.pepsico.com/Purpose/Performance-with-Purpose/Policies
