#BoycottIsraeliItems has been trending on social media since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last year. A recent post is going viral, accusing Pepsi and Lays of being Israeli goods and urging people to boycott them in solidarity with Palestine. A man can be seen removing Lays chips from the package in the footage. The chip changed to meat as soon as he put it in his mouth. He is then observed sipping from a Pepsi can. The beverage became blood. People were urged to boycott these two Israeli products by the user.
A sparrow and a fire are the subject of a narrative. A small sparrow wanted to assist with the fire that had started. She flew to a pond, dipped one drop of water into her beak, and flew back. She threw the drop onto the fire and flew as close as she could. She then returned for another, starting the process over and over. It did not affect the fire. “Why are you bothering with a single drop of water when you know it will make no difference?” a crow, sitting nearby, observed her efforts. “To satisfy my conscience,” was the sparrow’s response.
The sparrow’s actions are comparable to Pakistan’s boycott movement in support of Palestine. It has absolutely nothing to do with what Israel does in Palestine or anywhere else. Regardless of the little economic impact, the boycott of Israeli goods is driven by people’s conscience.
History of Lays products
In 1932, Lays made its debut on the market. Herman W. Lay, the originator, began selling the chips in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1939, he bought a food manufacturing company, which he renamed to H.W. Lay and Company. Lay and its competitor, the Frito Company, were merged into Frito-Lay in 1961. Since the 1965 merger of the firm and the Pepsi-Cola Company, it has introduced several new commodities such as Doritos, Funyuns, Munchos, and so forth. It was in the 1980s when Lay only started selling its products outside the country. Lay varies in different countries. In Mexico, the product is called Sabritas; in England, it is called Walker; in Egypt, it is called Chipsy; and in Israel.
Strauss-Elite is a local company that is affiliated with PepsiCo, distributing Lay goods in Israel, so far as the Tapuchips brand. Besides showing the strategy of PepsiCo in adapting to the market, this brand adaptation of Lay relates its existence to the Israeli consumer market. However, it is important to draw a line between Lay as a global brand and the political consequences of Israeli investment in PepsiCo. Though Lay’s does not use political comments or engage in political affairs, there are political implications to the business decisions of the parent corporation.
PepsiCo and its business interests in Israel
Although Lay’s is an American brand, PepsiCo is also heavily connected with Israel commercially. It is worth remembering that in 2018, PepsiCo bought SodaStream, an Israeli company that was famous due to its home carbonation machines, paying something around 3.2 billion dollars. PepsiCo revealed it would introduce a capital investment of 92.5 million dollars to the largest manufacturing location of SodaStream in southern Israel to increase its operations so as to accommodate the hosts of diverse workforces of Palestinians and Bedouin Arabs. Moreover, Sabra, a company that produces Middle Eastern types of food products, with some Israeli headquarters, is a company owned by PepsiCo. Such investments and operations have attracted criticism from activists opposed to the Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as boycotts.
Boycott movement against Israeli products
More than 41,000 civilians have been killed by Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in the past year. Although the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement has much older origins, it was rekindled by the
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