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Statement by Deborah Lapidus, Think Outside The Bottle National Organizer, Corporate Accountability International Pepsi Shareholders' Meeting, May 7, 2008 - Plano, Texas Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. My name is Deborah Lapidus. I am a national organizer with Corporate Accountability International’s Think Outside the Bottle campaign. Last summer we welcomed PepsiCo’s first step in responding to the concerns of tens of thousands of customers who are actively engaged with the Think Outside the Bottle campaign. The announcement that your corporation would begin printing “Public Water Source” on Aquafina labels made national headlines. Pepsi’s Aquafina is the number one bottled water brand in the U.S., so Pepsi’s leadership on this issue has an impact on the entire industry. The new labels are hitting shelves now; this is a major step in the right direction. Thank you, and congratulations. However, we are concerned that Pepsi is clouding this step forward by also taking a step back. Though we know that Aquafina comes from the same source as the tap, its labels now trumpet Aquafina’s extensive filtration process, implying that the water inside is somehow more pure than our tap water. The fact remains that tap water is more highly regulated than bottled water; consumers can get more information about how well municipal water systems are working than they can about the quality of Pepsi’s Aquafina. Rather than using creative tag lines that undermine our public water systems, Pepsi should instead be up front with consumers by providing information on breaches in water quality and safety, similar to what our public water systems provide their customers. Over the past year, dozens of cities from Boston to Seattle, restaurants, religious communities, campuses and, as of last week, one of the nation’s largest food co-ops, have taken action to think outside the bottle – cutting bottled water spending and instead providing tap water as a show of support for strong public water systems. Your corporation has aggressively responded to these actions both by meeting directly with municipal officials and through lobbying by your front group, the American Beverage Association. Just last week I attended a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors to discuss the findings of a study on the impacts of bottled water. I was very disturbed to learn about Pepsi’s attempts to dissuade mayors from taking action that will save taxpayers’ money, protect the environment and build civic pride in their communities. Our members and allies recognize the positive step you have taken in changing your Aquafina labels. But why does your corporation continue to use slick marketing and aggressive political influence to undermine confidence in our public water systems?
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