LEBANESE CITIZENS KICK pepsi OUT FOR PALESTINE
June 25, 2024After more than eight months of Israel’s invasion on Gaza, Lebanese people are still passionate about their campaign to boycott Pepsi in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The new logo was announced by the mother company Pepsico in March 2023 in the United States before being launched worldwide in early 2024. Despite this, the official page for Pepsi in Lebanon on Instagram didn’t announce it until just four months ago.
Among other changes, the brand added the name “Pepsi” in a white stripe in the middle of the logo, framed by red and blue stripes, as a reference to an older logo it sported from the 1950s to the 1980s.
This new logo was unveiled in Lebanon with a CGI video showing red blue and white lanterns flying over the Pigeon Rock landmark (Raouche) in Beirut, to advertise the brand’s new identity.
Despite these facts, on Wednesday, Lebanese lawyer Ziad Jaafil filed a notification with the Beirut Public Prosecution, requesting that the Lebanese Modern Company for Trade, the bottler of PepsiCo in Lebanon, stop the use of this logo due to its similarity in colors and layout to the Israeli flag.
Soon a nationwide campaign broke out. Residents in South and North Lebanon and the Bekaa attempted to ban Pepsi distribution trucks from entering their areas.
Storeowners began emptying Pepsi bottles and throwing them into the sea. Residents in their villages also began sharing the following statement widely through WhatsApp, “We announce the banning of Pepsi’s distribution vehicles from entering our areas in solidarity with our people in Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza and in response to Pepsi’s … advertisements and monetary support for the Israeli enemy.”
The residents also threatened to destroy the trucks if they kept entering their areas.
Meanwhile, in small neighborhoods in the city of Saida, Pepsi cans were destroyed in the streets. An anonymous Whatsapp announcement was sent to many shop owners in Saida, stating, “Israeli flags are being sold in your stores, Pepsi is challenging your affiliation, are you submissive? Boycott!”
@lorienttoday
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