Following the boycott of US products for supporting Israel in the ongoing war against Hamas, social media users have been sharing a photo of Pepsi’s new product design claiming the company’s declaration of solidarity with Palestine.
Photo widely shared on social media platforms showed Pepsi can covered with patterns reflecting Palestinian heritage and the name ‘Palestine’ written in Arabic.
The circulated photo contained a text stating that — “Pepsi has modified its product’s design to feature Palestinian Culture”, but no official claim from Pepsi Co. has been made.
The viral photo was first shared and created by Digital Alfaaz, a Facebook account.
“Pepsi Gaza introduces new designs to its products, showcasing Palestinian culture and heritage,” it captioned the post.
However, when searching, we found that the image is not new, and Facebook page Dragon Studios shared the design of the product as part of a campaign called “Pepsi Taste Challenge” on August 16, 2023.
At that time, Pepsi launched two of its products with a new look, “Pepsi Cola” and “Pepsi Max,” as a gesture of appreciation from the international company for 58 percent of Palestinian customers who chose Pepsi taste.
Taking to X, users expressed their anger and urge people to not to fall for this deception and continue the boycott of the product.
One of the user wrote, “You better be joking. They can’t just put a Palestinian design on a Pepsi can and call it a day just for people to buy it. Pepsico still funds Israel and stands by them. Don’t let it fool you. I’m still boycotting.”
“The Israeli company PEPSI has changed the design to avoid the boycott and wrote Palestine. Do not fall for this deception. Continue the boycott of both PEPSI and COKE brands,” another wrote.
Here are some of the reactions
The escalation between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Israeli forces continues after Hamas launched, at dawn on October 7, the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, in which thousands of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, storming Israeli settlements, and capturing soldiers and civilians.
Israel responded by launching Operation Iron Swords, threatening Hamas with severe consequences for its attack, with more than 8,500 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis killed so far.
People from around the world abstain from purchasing Israeli goods and franchises supporting it in order to convey a message to Israel, urging them to cease actions that harm innocent Muslims, such as displacements and acts of violence within their own country.
Here is a list of products facing boycott
- McDonald’s
- Pepsi
- Seven Up
- Pizza Hut
- Coca cola
- Fanta
- Miranda
- Green cola
- Sprite
- Schweppes
- Starbucks
- Burger King restaurants
- Kentucky
- Johnson
- Cheetos
- Colgate
- Adidas
- Vaseline
- Lays
- Pringles
- Nescafe
- Loreal
- Danone
- Knorr
- Cappy juice
- Prima diapers
- Dettol
- Claire
- Head & Shoulders
- Cerelac
- Downey
- Tide
- Punks and Omo
- Lux
- Dove
- Lifebuoy
- Signal
- Sunsilk
- Claire
- Country Corn Flakes
- Pool water
