PepsiCo's C.E.O. Indra Nooyi has announced a turning point in the history snack foods. In an interview with Freakonomics, Nooyi revealed that the company would be launching lady snacks, finally allowing women everywhere to eat between meals just as men have done for centuries.
Were you not aware that crunchy, crunchy chips were secretly, somehow insufficiently feminine? More the fool you. Talking about Doritos, the female executive pointed out that men and women eat the chips very differently. She said, "A lot of young guys eat the chips . . . and they lick their fingers with great glee," while women, on the other hand, don't. "They don't like to crunch too loudly in public, and they don't lick their fingers generously and they don't like to pour the little broken pieces and the flavor in their mouth."
Because women have been struggling, and failing, to enjoy Doritos, Nooyi said that Pepsi is designing a series of innovative chips for women. The products will be packaged differently and offer, "low-crunch, the full taste profile," but, "not have so much of the flavor stick on their fingers." It's serious flavor-equity gap created by generations of phallocentric chips that PepsiCo is bent on closing.
The lady snacks will not only offer a cleaner eating experience, but, according to Nooyi, they'll also answer the question, "How can you put it in a purse? Because women love to carry a snack in their purse." The C.E.O. told Freakonomics that the company is "getting ready to launch a bunch of them [lady snacks] soon." Forget equal pay, this the justice we've been waiting for.
Pepsi has not yet revealed what the women-friendly products will look like, but if they're like previous attempts at gender-specific products such as pencils and earplugs, there may be some pink edibles in the offing.
Before Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994, the company had been focusing on selling soda and snacks. With Nooyi at the helm, PepsiCo started to diversify its products. Now the company organizes its products into categories like, "Fun for You," "Better for You," and "Good for You." "Good for You" products have less sugar and fat, and include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. The "Good for You" category is comprised of brands like Tropicana, Quaker, and Aquafina, which is water – and has been considered very good for you.
The "Better for You" group emphasizes lower-calorie sodas and baked potato chips, while "Fun for You" includes treats like Doritos, Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Lays, but only — it appears — if you're a man.
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