Pepsi - The Choice Of The Angry Generation: PepsoCo's CFO Gives An Unfortunate Speech
By Warner Todd Huston (05/20/05)
Apparently PepsiCo's President and CFO, Indra Nooyi, thinks the USA is giving "the finger" to all the world. That's right, she was heard to claim that the USA is flipping the bird to every other nation on earth in a commencement address (http://208.158.244.116/Speech-ColumbiaBusinessSchool.pdf - this link is a PDF file) she gave to the graduates of Columbia Business School on May 15th.
All commencement speakers have the singular problem of finding a way to give their address a "hook," a way to grab the audience. Indra Nooyi chose as her "hook" an analogy of the five fingers of the hand as representing the five major continents. With apologies to Australia and Antarctica (the hand only has five fingers, she helpfully reminds us) Nooyi delved into the topic of international business to enlighten the graduates. With her "hand" analogy, she identified Africa as the economically small little finger, Asia as the powerful thumb, South America as the ring finger of love, and Europe as that wonderful index finger that "pointed the way for western civilization and the laws we use in conducting global business."
That leaves the USA to be assigned a digit, doesn't it? If you were counting fingers that also leaves only one finger left. And you guessed it. Nooyi identified the USA with the middle finger. She said, "Sif used inappropriately — just like the USA itself — the middle finger can convey a negative message and get us in trouble."
She went on to say that she felt that "Sthis is how the rest of the world looks at the U.S. right now. Not as part of the hand — giving strength and purpose to the rest of the fingers — but, instead, scratching our nose and sending a far different signal." In other words, she sees the USA as giving the world the extended middle finger. Not in utter defiance, mind you, but in a more subtle and sneaky way by pretending to scratch our noses and pointing that bad finger forward when we think no one is looking for that is exactly what her allusion to the scratching of the nose means. Sneaky. Hateful. Ignorant Americans.
She goes on to regale her captive audience with the story of some obnoxious, drunken American businessmen she witnessed in a Chinese hotel loudly making fun of the bathroom facilities in their rooms. If you were not aware, in the Far East, the traditional toilet facilities consist of a hole in the floor over which the user squats in use. These businessmen were gauche enough to forget that many of the hotel staff spoke English quite well and understood every loud and intemperate word spoken by those boorish men. A bad example of the "ugly American" I would have to agree.
OK. Point taken. But, do a handful of drunken loudmouths automatically represent ALL of the USA? If that is true, then wouldn't English football toughs represent ALL of England? Wouldn't every surly waiter in every bad French bistro be the perfect example of all Frenchmen? I don't think so. These businessmen were jerks, to be sure, but to equate these fools with all Americans? Rather simple minded, isn't it?
But, here is a further and more important point. While Indra Nooyi stood at that podium and wagged her finger at the petulant American business community, while she bemoaned American etiquette while abroad she used the vulgar example of "the middle finger" in her analogy. So, we are to understand that, to Indra, it is a "bad" thing that some loud American businessmen got rowdy in China and perhaps embarrassed themselves and their hosts. Certainly to any level headed person it was horrible behavior exhibited by the overheard businessmen. But she, with her tsk tsking, can stoop to a vulgar analogy and that is apparently just fine. Their vulgarity is bad, yet hers is excusable?
Why is she any "better" than those she berates, one might ask?
Further, as the CFO of one of the USA's biggest corporations, she seems to feel it perfectly fine to represent the citizens of the USA as ignorant cretins. In this time when the slightest off color story or ill feeling about America sends its detractors into paroxysms of hatred, riots and anger, she saw no problem with denigrating the country that pays her extravagant salary.
A close read of her address reveals some rather prosaic, but good points about the business community and how it would benefit the USA for its business representatives to act when abroad. Much of what she said would have been quite fine. But a commencement address should be an uplifting experience for the listener. And equating the USA to the extended middle finger brings her address down into the partisan mud slinging and ignorant, uncouth behavior that she seems to decry.
And while she was spending so much time berating the American business community, she offered not a single example of what her adopted country (Indra was born in India) does well, or the good things it offers the world. Not a mention of the higher standard of living the USA has helped the rest of the world enjoy was intoned. Not a peep did she utter about the Tsunami relief or the many billions of dollars US businesses donate to charitable causes worldwide. Not a mention of the millions that have been set upon the path to freedom by US efforts was offered.
In short, her little tirade seemed to be solely an excuse to berate the country that has made her life and that of so many billions of people around the world so rich.
She ended her speech with this:
"So, remember, when you extend your arm to colleagues and peoples from other countries, make sure that you're giving a hand S not the finger."
I have to say that I have decided that I will be extending my arm from this point forward. It will be to pick up a Coca Cola Product and not a Pepsi product all the while thinking of Indra Nooyi.
(Update — PepsiCo has offered an "apology" that isn't quite one. A link can be seen here: A message from PepsiCo's President & CFO, Indra Nooyi) - http://208.158.244.116/msgfromindra.shtml
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