Powerade Conversion: Remember the Boston Tea Party!

From astute reader, “ESL”:

Pepsi basically sells sugar water. One sugar water is just as good as another. . . .I would think that Gatorade will be the biggest loser. I’m willing to bet that demographics for Gatorade would be seriously offended at what [Indra Nooyi] said.

Goodbye Gatorade. The reader quoted above is right. I’ll give you demographics: Here’s the Dude, with his buddies on the Savage baseball team, after a stupendous victory, fueled by (Coca-Cola’s) POWERADE!

Ironically, this Pepsi debacle follows close on the heals of my decision to no longer purchase Starbucks products either. (Their corporate chiefs donate almost 100% to Democrats.) Sean over at The American Mind took me to task for that one, saying that:

My life is more productive and fun because I don’t deeply examine the politics behind everything I buy. Doing that means letting ideology rule your life. That’s a very unconservative way to live.

Good for Sean. But ideas (principles) should rule your life. “Boycott” is really shorthand for something subtler, and ultimately more powerful: the power of consumer choice. The market has such an elegantly clean focus to it — I’m the customer; I choose.

And, God bless America, I’ve got a lot of products to choose from. It’s just sugar water.

Pepsi spends millions of dollars trying to influence my buying decisions by working to associate their products in my mind with appealing, trendy images: Britney one year; Beyonce the next. So why would it be better to buy their products because I think their spokesperson is cool (or “hot,” as the case may be). . . rather than to take the time to assess, as best I can, their corporate values?

Of course we don’t usually know much about their values. But sometimes we do. Sometimes their CEO is imprudent enough to stand up in front of a large audience and insult America. (Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo) And, sometimes their corporate leadership is completely, and publicly, allied with a political party that advocates partial-birth abortion. (Howard Schultz, Starbucks)

Sean wrote that: “When Dunkin’ Donuts creates an atmosphere as inviting as Starbucks in a location I can find and have free WiFi. . .then I’ll start going there.”

Fair enough. Dunkin’ Donuts should have WiFi. I bet they soon will. The exciting thing about the free market is that it could happen. Competition gives us what we want. We just have to demand it.

There is a direct parallel between democracy and capitalism. In the political system, the ballot box referees the referendum. In the economic market, it’s the cash register.

Pepsi. . . Starbucks. . . you lost my vote.

LINKS:

Thanks, Mudville Gazette, Open Post.

For a different view: The Anchoress, mad at Nooyi, still loves Diet Pepsi . . .