Pepsi faces growing product boycott threat over donations to Texas lawmakers

*Consumers on the social media via #BoycottPepsi are calling for boycott of Pepsi products over the beverage giant’s $15,000 donation to the Texas Republicans supporting the sensitive and contentious abortion law, and $25,000 to Democrats backing the US state’s ‘extreme restrictions’ on abortion

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Beverage giant Pepsi is facing a backlash amid the growing product boycott calls over a $15,000 donation to the Texas Republican Party in the United States (US) that appeared in state records three months after the state’s extreme restrictions on abortion went into effect.

ConsumerConnect learnt Pepsi disclosed Tuesday, January 25, 2022, that the company actually made the donation August 2020, but it was not cashed until August 2021.

The company also said that it made a similar donation to progressive groups in the US, agency report stated.

Activist Judd Legum flagged the controversial the donation, and it was amplified on global tech giant Twitter by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll—and the hashtag #BoycottPepsi has since gone viral in cyberspace.

Meanwhile, Pepsi has responded to consumers’ boycott calls over its donation to Texas GOP, which apparently populated by supporters of abortion ban in the State of Texas.

Consumers on the social media platforms are calling to boycott Pepsi products over the report disclosing the fund donation, but Pepsi has disputed the claims regarding the specific period when it made the donation to the Texas lawmakers.

The brewing gaint contended that it donated the funds to support political convention costs, long before the abortion ban was put in place in the state.

PepsiCo also pointed out that it donated to convention costs for both Democrats and Republicans.

Specifically, the company noted that it donated $15,000 to the Republican Party and $25,000 to the Democratic Party.

Texas’ ban is reportedly the strictest in the United States, and it allows private citizens to institute legal actions against individuals who assist women in obtaining abortions after the first six weeks of their pregnancies.

Earlier, the report came from the site Popular Information, a progressive news outlet, and claims that PepsiCo, makers of Pepsi, donated $15,000 to the Texas GOP August 5, 2021.

The funds, report further said, would go towards the re-election campaigns of Republicans in the state legislature, such as Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, according to Popular Information.

Texas doctor performs abortion, and the state’s abortion law critics are targeting these corporate donors and Texas-based companies, according to report.

PepsiCo not the largest corporate donor

Similarly, Corporate Accountability Action (CAA), another progressive site, reported that Dallas-based telecoms company AT&T donated over $645,000 in the last two years to nearly 22 lawmakers who sponsored the measure.

The CAA reported that Time Warner Cable/Charter Communications also donated $523,661, and NBC Universal gave $88,000 to the primary sponsors in Texas.

Despite their support of GOP lawmakers, it was gathered that PepsiCo in the past had supported and lobbied for progressive causes.

PepsiCo was among the companies warning Texas lawmakers away from ordinance bans that would place the LGBT community at risk, said Bloomberg Law.

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