Pepsi Gives Middle Finger to the U.S.

Pepsi has a new boss:

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) said Monday that Chief Financial Officer Indra K. Nooyi will replace Steven Reinemund as chief executive officer of the soft-drink and snacks company, making her the No. 2 female CEO in the Fortune 500.

The blogosphere well remembers Nooyi who made some rather objectionable remarks about the United States:

In her speech, Ms. Nooyi likened the seven continents of the world to the five fingers of the hand. It was a funny start for the chief financial officer of a major American corporation, but she was just warming up:


This analogy of the five fingers as the five major continents leaves the long, middle finger for North America, and, in particular, The United States. As the longest of the fingers, it really stands out. The middle finger anchors every function that the hand performs and is the key to all of the fingers working together efficiently and effectively. This is a really good thing, and has given the U.S. a leg-up in global business since the end of World War I.

However, if used inappropriately--just like the U.S. itself--the middle finger can convey a negative message and get us in trouble. You know what I'm talking about. In fact, I suspect you're hoping that I'll demonstrate what I mean. And trust me, I'm not looking for volunteers to model.

Discretion being the better part of valor . . . I think I'll pass.

What is most crucial to my analogy of the five fingers as the five major continents, is that each of us in the U.S.--the long middle finger--must be careful that when we extend our arm in either a business or political sense, we take pains to assure we are giving a hand . . . not the finger. Sometimes this is very difficult. Because the U.S.--the middle finger--sticks out so much, we can send the wrong message unintentionally.

Unfortunately, I think this 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.

I still like Pepsi better than Coke, and boycotts are usually silly, but it's nice to know the type of person you're dealing with.