Dear. Mr.Foss, CEO of Pepsi Bottling Group,
PBG Executives, Officers,
I am writing regarding the promotional campaign conducted by your company’s Turkish branch “Goster duygularini” (show your feelings).
In this campaign, participation conditions include as the ineligible entries, female pictures bearing “turban” along with those bearing gun, or other pictures found objectionable in terms of public morality.
I, like the millions of Muslims in Turkey, 99.8% of whose population is Muslim, find this particularly insulting for a least but not limited to the following reasons:
1)This is in clear violation of the PBG’s “Worldwide Code of Conduct”. This is particularly appalling considering the fact that it is coming from a consumer goods firm, whose customer base includes all segments of the society and who prides itself in respecting diversity and the values of the societies constituting their customers.
2) This is in clear violation of the laws of the Republic of Turkey which have specific legal prohibitions against discrimination in trade or public services, on the basis of the religious beliefs of the public, which in turn, again in violation of the Code of Conduct for PBG.
3)70% of Turkish women wear headscarves (or “turban” as referred to by the certain staunchly secularist politicians to impart negative connotation thereto). That segment, and their families corresponds to roughly 70% of your customer base. Declaring such segment ineligible to participate in a promotional campaign, is tantamount to saying to them, “don’t buy our products; we don’t want your money”.
4)This smacks of the bigoted policies of some establishments in US, perpetrated in the first half of the last century bearing the infamous signs “no Blacks, Jews or dogs allowed”.
5)Upon protests by some concerned consumers, PBG Turkey’s PR Representative Ms. Didem Sinik stated to the media that the rules are not intended to insult any segment, but just “to exclude the symbols of certain religions” .
This explanation, adds insult to injury rather than rectifying the situation. Because:
a) Headscarf is not “symbol of a certain religion” but a woman’s individual choice of attire. Ms. Didem Sinik, and the other executives, officers of the company are all natives of Turkey . It is more than likely that they too have family members who wear headscarves. I cannot fathom where they could get the notion that “headscarf is a symbol of a certain religion”.
Even if its assumed arguendo, that it is a symbol, it is beyond comprehension what legitimate business a consumer product company might have in deciding the acceptable attire for the consumers, provided that such attire is not in violation of common morals.
Is your company an advocacy organization for certain lifestyles and political positions?
b) For the edification of your officers or the PR company overeager to participate in the ongoing social engineering project
to transform the society, in line with their philosophical, cultural inclinations, I’d like to inform them that every woman in the world cover certain parts of their body for he purpose of public morals, individual code of modesty. Covering hair is only one form of that. Those displaying their hair freely also excercise different levels of modesty according to their own standards, by covering different parts of their bodies. Covering parts of the body for the purpose of modesty is not unique to Muslim woman. Even if it is assumed so by the executives of PBG Turkey , they should be reminded that displaying a symbol revealing one’s faith is also a universally recognized basic human right.
c)Especially considering the fact that the “headscarf issue” is hotly debated in Turkey these days, and a new constitutional amendment has been passed by the Parliament to strengthen the existing nondiscrimination laws, this zealotry by PBG Turkey to take a stand against the Turkish constitution, public values and universal conventions is simply illegal and immoral!
In response to my inquiry to her with a telephone call, PBG Turkey PR Representative Ms.Didem Sinik blamed the advertising firm responsible for the campaign, but neither provided the company’s name nor gave any indication that any remedial action would be taken, other than the information that the offending statement was removed and the issue was under legal review. It was my impression that she was underestimating the gravity of the matter.
Remedy:
As a remedy to this act in clear contravention of universal ethics, Turkish laws, moral code of the society PBG is operating in and thus the Code of Ethics of PBG and PepsiCo, I ask the following actions to be taken by your firm to control the damage and assuage the pain caused thereby:
1) PBG Turkey executives should provide a letter of apology to the Turkish public and the Muslims around the world offended by the grouping of a woman’s hijab (turban) along with immoral acts.
2) The statement should clearly state the misconception or deliberate misrepresentation the certain officers in the company does not represent PBG or Pepsi brand.
3) Investigate the matter thoroughly and take punitive measures against those executives and officers of PBG who clearly place Pepsi brand as a party in controversial socio-political matter.
4) As a sign of goodwill and demonstration of PBG’s sincerity in such measures and dedication to upholding human dignity, and respect to values of the society you are operating in, PBG should make a donation to a human rights organizations or religious establishment working to remove such barriers on the basis of individual conscience and faith.
5) A sensitivity training for the executives, officers and employees is clearly in order. I will be happy to offer my services or help provide trainees free of charge in such effort.
I , as a concerned citizen of Turkey and a socially conscious member of this society as well as human race, consider it my duty to follow the matter until the reparatory steps are taken by your company. Should PBG fail to heed this call to do the right thing, I will start a grassroots campaign against Pepsi including boycott and other consumer action activities in cooperation with concerned organizations and individuals in Turkey and abroad and encourage injured parties to take legal action.
I sincerely hope that he matter can be resolved without further pain to the Muslims in Turkey and abroad and further damage PepsiCo image.
Sincerely,
Bekir L. Yildirim
Istanbul, Turkey
