This week, American chip company Doritos walked headfirst into a media storm after it said it would launch supposed women-friendly chips.
When asked in an interview with Freakonomics Radio whether the company would unveil “a male and female version of chips,” Indra Nooyi, the chief executive of PepsiCo (the parent company of Doritos) said, “It’s not a male and female as much as, ‘Are there snacks for women that can be designed and packaged differently?’
"And yes, we are looking at it, and we’re getting ready to launch a bunch of them soon.
"Although women would love to crunch [chips] loudly, lick their fingers and pour crumbs from the bag into their mouth afterwards, they prefer not to do this in public."
Oh, and they’re "handbag sized"! How convenient!
Although women would love to crunch loudly, lick their fingers and pour crumbs from the bag into their mouth afterwards, they prefer not to do this in public.
PepsiCo says the new product, which has been dubbed as 'lady-friendly' chips by the Internet, is based on market research, but could possibly be mistaken for rules in an outdated book on female etiquette.
The wisecracks on Twitter flowed thick and fast – some people were seriously unhappy.
Others have taken to sarcasm to express their disdain.
But perhaps the reactions have been overblown. One commenter, writing for Slate, has argued wholeheartedly for “lady chips”, saying “I do want a single serving of chips that I can throw in my purse without worrying it will get crushed.
The 'Lady Doritos' kerfuffle is a good example of how the Twitter outrage industry can make a buffet out of thin gruel.
"I enjoy the intense flavour of Doritos dust as any other nacho-cheese-blooded American, but Nooyi is right that I don’t love licking it off my fingers in public.
"The 'Lady Doritos' kerfuffle is a good example of how the Twitter outrage industry can make a buffet out of thin gruel.”
In the wake of the fallout, Doritos has gone on record saying the whole thing was just a huge misunderstanding, and that there will be no “lady chips” after all. “The reporting on a specific Doritos product for female customers is inaccurate,” a spokesperson told The New Daily.
But is this the truth, or a thinly veiled backpedal of the highest order? We might never know. But if there’s anything to take away from perhaps this week’s strangest news story, perhaps it’s this:
