PepsiCo has adopted a policy of viewpoint neutrality in its advertising, heading off a shareholder resolution calling on the company to account for its “discriminatory” ad buying under a now-defunct coalition that sought to demonetize conservative outlets.
The food-and-beverage giant, whose brands include Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats, made an addition this week to its “responsible marketing” policy emphasizing its commitment to political and religious impartiality.
“PepsiCo’s media-buying and content policies are audience-centric, aiming to reach all consumers authentically, and are viewpoint neutral with respect to political or religious status or views,” said the statement on the company’s website.
The policy change was announced Friday by the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, which said it joined discussions with the company over the resolution filed by free-market advocate David Bahnsen and his representatives at Bowyer Research.
“PepsiCo agreed to change its policy in exchange for Bahnsen withdrawing his resolution from the ballot,” the ADF said.
Mr. Bahnsen, a financial adviser and author, described the change on X as a “huge win with a great team working for the common good.”
The shareholder resolution came with PepsiCo and other major companies facing a reckoning over their participation in the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a left-wing group formed in 2019 to promote “digital safety” that wound up blacklisting mainstream conservative outlets.
GARM, an initiative of the World Federation of Advertisers, which encompasses about 90% of global advertising, disbanded last year after billionaire Elon Musk accused the group in a federal antitrust lawsuit of illegally conspiring to demonetize his social media platform X.
“GARM pressured Spotify to boot Joe Rogan from its platform and promoted the Global Disinformation Index and NewsGuard, which blacklist mainstream conservative media outlets as ’misinformation,’” the ADF said.
Since then, the ADF and others have pressured the companies in the GARM coalition to ensure that they will no longer discriminate against right-of-center media outlets in their advertising.
Jeremy Tedesco, ADF senior counsel and senior vice president for corporate engagement, applauded PepsiCo for “making this crucial change.”
“No corporation should be involved in censorship at any level, and the participation of so many companies in silencing the views of everyday Americans through GARM should concern us all,” Mr. Tedesco said. “We hope every company follows PepsiCo’s example and recommits to doing its part to protect freedom of speech and thought in our nation and throughout the world.”
The Washington Times has reached out to PepsiCo for comment.
Free-market advocates have wielded the resolution process in recent months to counter corporate diversity, equity and inclusion mandates, although not always with success.
At its Thursday meeting, Costco shareholders voted down a resolution that would have required the retailer to examine the risks of its DEI policies, bucking the tide of companies rolling back their diversity initiatives, which include Walmart, Target, McDonald’s and Ford.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, which filed the resolution, said Costco has rebranded its DEI program as “People and Communities,” but that it “continues to practice the staples of corporate DEI programs.”
This year’s shareholder proxy season, which typically runs from April to June, promises to be politically charged as companies embracing woke policies grapple with a shareholder backlash.
“Overall, shareholders have filed over 60 ADF-backed resolutions for the upcoming season — more than twice those filed in the previous year,” the alliance said. “Those resolutions have resulted in at least 25 meetings with corporate leaders.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.