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Is Doritos launching a gender-targeted chip?

PepsiCo CEO hints at made-for-her chips during a recent interview
Canadian Grocer staff
2/6/2018

An interview with Indra Nooyi has gone viral and prompted social media backlash after the PepsiCo CEO suggested the company was developing female-focused snacks under its Doritos brand.

During a recent interview with Freakonomics Radio, Nooyi discussed how men and women eat chips differently. Women, for instance, eat their chips with a little less vigour than their male counterparts and want a quieter product made with less chip dust.

“As you watch a lot of the young guys eat the chips,” said Nooyi, “they love their Doritos, and they lick their fingers with great glee, and when they reach the bottom of the bag they pour the little broken pieces into their mouth … Women, I think, would love to do the same, but they don’t. They don’t like to crunch too loudly in public.”

When the interviewer asked if PepsiCo was developing a "male and female version of chips," Nooyi 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.”

Dubbed "Lady Doritos," news of a gender-specific chip spread like wildfire across mainstream and social media on Monday. But, in an email to AdAge, a PepsiCo spokeswoman said the reporting on a female-specific Dorito was inaccurate. "We already have Doritos for women–they're called Doritos, and they're enjoyed by millions of people every day. At the same time, we know needs and preferences continue to evolve and we're always looking for new ways to engage and delight our consumers," she wrote.

Customers, however, had already turned to Twitter to share their distaste for the proposed product. Here's a sample of what people had to say:








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