PepsiCo is pulling out of political spending, but doubling down on sustainability initiatives

Brands halting political involvement has still made people question what role politics should play in FMCG. Credit: Valerio Pucci / Shutterstock.

The Capitol Hill riot earlier this month has led a number of brands, including giants such as Walmart, AT&T, Facebook and Disney, to reconsider their spending across the political landscape. Among them is PepsiCo, which announces that it will be suspending all financial political actions. This announcement was quickly followed by another, pledging to achieve more than double their climate goals, thereby shifting the public’s focus to be on the company’s concrete future plans on a widely popular goal. However, brands halting political involvement has still made people question what role politics should play in FMCG, if at all, considering how corporate greenwashing and pinkwashing have emerged as hot topics across the last few years.

The negative attention garnered by certain lawmakers who were trying to overturn Biden’s win also negatively reflected on the companies backing these politicians. Backing the ‘wrong’ type of person can bring public scrutiny to a company, which many brands are keen to avoid. Nevertheless, the companies who are now amending their political financial investments are doing so after the fact, many as a reactionary move in light of the Capitol attack. Brands should be careful in seeming inauthentic. Political action by brands can be well received, but authenticity and genuine intent is key in how the public will respond.

After its announcement, PepsiCo doubled down on sustainability by pledging net-zero emissions by 2040 and reducing more than 40% of its greenhouse gases by 2030. This helped pivot the conversation around the brand to a more positive angle. Climate change activism is widely considered a worthwhile cause by the public, with 45% of US consumers considering it more important than before or their top priority in GlobalData’s Week 11 2020 Coronavirus (COVID-19) Recovery Consumer Survey Results. Furthermore, the survey also showed that 89% of US consumers’ purchasing choices are to some extent affected by how ethical, environmentally-friendly or socially-responsible the product or service is. This demonstrates the wide appeal of eco-conscious product innovations and branding. Especially against the backdrop of a global health crisis, this month’s events have driven home that every investment of a brand needs to be carefully thought through. This may signal an emerging trend of brands backing fewer politicians in future, as this is considered risky when it comes to public opinion and instead focusing on more widely acknowledged and supported issues, such as climate change.

Latest reports from

• COVID-19 Impact on PepsiCo, H2 2020 Update

Or to search over 50,000 other reports please visit

GlobalData Report Store

GlobalData is this website’s parent business intelligence company.