We can put away our pitchforks ladies. In lieu of the recent firestorm on social media, PepsiCo has issued a statement that they are not creating Doritos specifically for women. I admit, I was pretty shocked when I saw the headline pop up on my Facebook feed. Oh goody! I can finally enjoy quiet Doritos with my small delicate lady hands and not have to worry about embarrassing myself with noisy bites.
I was livid. In fact I was so set on writing a giant rant to the company. Things were starting to look up for us. Just recently we were awarded with the female Colonel Sanders. Thankfully the company heard what people had to say and shut down the idea completely. But how did it all start?
How Doritos for Women Began
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be4DKdFln9S/?hl=en&tagged=ladydoritos
The whole muddled situation stemmed from a recent interview with PepsiCo chief executive, Indra Nooyi on the "Freakonomics Radio" podcast. During the interview Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi spoke about how women do not eat Doritos the same as men. "They don't like to crunch too loudly in public," she said. "And they don't lick their fingers generously, and they don't like to pour the little broken pieces and the flavor into their mouth."
Further into the interview she was asked if the company, who owns Frito-Lays, was planning on creating "a male and female version of chips."
She responded,
"It's not a male and female as much as, 'Are there snacks for women that can be designed and packaged differently?' And yes, we are looking at it, and we're getting ready to launch a bunch of them soon. For women, low-crunch, the full taste profile, not have so much of the flavor stick on the fingers, and how can you put it in a purse? Because women love to carry a snack in their purse."
From there the internet took over and everyone voiced their opinions on the matter.
Take a look at some of these responses on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/marcellacomedy/status/960970927193255936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
im SOOOOO glad there is lady Doritos now. I couldn't figure out how to eat the man kind.
— Miranda Sings (@MirandaSings) February 6, 2018
What if Lady Doritos are just regular Doritos but when a woman buys a bag she only gets 77% of the chips a guy would.#LadyDoritos
— Geraldine @[email protected] (@everywhereist) February 6, 2018
Once the hate started spilling in, PepsiCo stated that the chips were a misunderstanding. The company released a statement, "We already have Doritos for women — they're called Doritos, and they're enjoyed by millions of people every day. At the same time, we know needs and preferences continue to evolve, and we're always looking for new ways to engage and delight our consumers."
When Nooyi was asked about what she meant in the podcast, she declined to answer. I guess us female consumers will never get the chance to buy a specific Doritos product made for a Doritos lady.
