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PepsiCo: We Didn’t Sponsor Giffords’ Gabfest. Specifically.

Robert Farago - comments No comments

Pepsi logo

Dear Mr. Farago,

Thank you for sharing your concern stemming from our participation in last summer’s Aspen Ideas Festival.

For background, each sponsor of the Festival is offered the chance to underwrite one evening as a part of overall sponsorship benefits. The evening that PepsiCo put our name on was an event in which journalist Andrea Mitchell interviewed Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly about their lives since Ms. Gifford’s shooting. Other than to have our logo and name attached to that particular evening session, we have no relationship to Ms. Giffords or to her organization, Americans for Responsible Solutions.

I can further share that PepsiCo has never supported groups that either advocate gun control or oppose hunting.

I hope this information is helpful. Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Sincerely,

Michael Madden
Consumer Relations

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “PepsiCo: We Didn’t Sponsor Giffords’ Gabfest. Specifically.”

  1. Uhm so what is the Aspen Ideas festival?
    Lot’s on green energy, women’s rights, Pot legalization, etc…
    Yeah ok… I guess you sponsored something I really don’t care about, and well slapping your name onto Gabby’s gab fest doesn’t help you.
    And honestly I prefer Coke over Pepsi anyways.

    Reply
  2. So they sponsor something that they have no idea of? That’s just redonkulous! I wonder if it would happen if organizations like Gun Save Lives appeared on one of their sponsored evenings.

    Reply
  3. With new shooters I am VERY, very careful to very calmly and patiently teach them always, always, always keep their finger OFF the trigger, at all times, in all circumstances, unless and until they are absolutely, positively ready to shoot the firearm. I follow that by teaching them NEVER ever, every point a gun at anything they are not willing to kill or destroy. I use the word “kill” to instill a proper and healthy seriousness about what they are doing. And then I teach them the gun is ALWAYS loaded. No matter how many times they have checked it and no matter who told them it is NOT loaded, they must always assume it is loaded. And then we cover always being aware of what is beyond the target they are shooting at.

    All four rules are important, but if you violate the first, the rest don’t matter.

    Reply
    • “All four rules are important, but if you violate the first, the rest don’t matter”

      Indeed, the first rule is about starting out with the proper mindset when handling a weapon, if don’t do that, you’ve already failed.

      Reply
  4. Only the Police and Military should have guns and not people you say? Next time anyone spews that knowledge of nothing talk to you, tell them about this situation.

    Reply
  5. I like the idea in theory. A gun that only I (or those I authorize) can use? Great.

    But…

    There are a ton of potential problems in practice. Reliability is an obvious one. Hacking or backdoor overrides are another. Cost is yet another, and I could go on. That said, I don’t mind attempts to develop a smart gun if the government doesn’t try to mandate them. Let the gun buyers decide. If the problems can be overcome, and gun buyers want them, smart guns will thrive. If not, then they deserve to be a technological dead end.

    Reply
  6. I would have to agree with RF on this one. Most new shooters are going to be very nervous on their first time out especially if they’ve leaned toward all the hype the anti-s keep spilling. One rule to remember at a time is a whole lot easier to learn and besides an instructor is out there with them and should know the other rules and insure the ‘student’ doesn’t break them.

    Reply
  7. Hello Nick,
    Sorry for asking the same question but I am looking for a way to do this and you did such a great job on this one so here I go. Did you ever post the other article on Transferring a Silencer To a Trust? Thank you very much.

    Reply
  8. ” the Ninth Circuit overturned all of California’s laws regarding carrying firearms.”
    – O RLY?

    “This is the same court that ruled before the Supreme Court that Second Amendment rights extend nationwide.”
    – and they… don’t? Does the 1st Amendment?

    Seriously, this guy is complaining that the 9th circuit is too anti-gun. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.

    Reply
  9. “Delaware Online: Make City Council Meetings Gun-Free Zones”

    Yes! Because that is actually going to keep someone from shooting in a city council meeting.

    Reply
  10. Here’s the email I sent:

    ———————————————————————–
    I recently read about your sponsorship of Aspen Ideas and your response to an inquiry about this. This response included the phrase “PepsiCo has never supported groups that either advocate gun control or oppose hunting.”

    Aspen Ideas specifically states their festivals will discuss gun control, and Ms. Giffords is a well known advocate of gun rights violations. Sponsorship of the evening in question amounts to sponsorship of gun control advocacy.

    I was wondering if you actively support gun rights organizations to counteract this. There are many organizations on the local, state and national levels that are “in the trenches” every day seeking to protect the natural and civil rights of Americans, including those rights pertaining the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

    Such organizations include (but are not limited to):

    gunssavelives.net/

    http://armedcitizenproject.org/ (donations are specifically used to help citizens in “bad neighborhoods”)

    http://concealedcampus.org/

    http://www.1mmagc.org (1 Million Moms Against Gun Control)

    https://www.facebook.com/MomsWithGuns

    There are many others.

    Pepsi has a wonderful opportunity to make the positive public relations statement that says “here’s a company that supports Civil Rights” while at the same time reaching one of the single largest demographics in the country: gun owners.

    ———————————————————————————————

    Awaiting reply.

    Reply
  11. These opportunistic anti-gun Democrat soldiers are beating their chests because they have a sympathetic Democrat state legislative majority and want to be on the anti-republican bandwagon to further their own specific agendas, which happen to also include being anti-gun. The fact that Miller is waiving the faith banner is just stamp your feet background noise .

    This whole push is as much about “squeezing” Christie, a presumptive key candidate for the next presidential contest, as it is about expanding firearm restrictions and impeding the exercise of gun rights. The Democrat / liberal / progressive machine is doing every exercise they can envision to diminish Christie’s value as a viable presidential candidate; that’s why they won’t let go of bridge gate even though it is no longer news.

    And with the major broadcast media at their disposal, this sort of thing will continue on all fronts, including gun rights, because the Dems are afraid of Christie.

    Reply
  12. Judging by the opinions of people that comment here (including me…) the exact size, shape, weight, trigger, and so forth, of a handgun seem to be very important. Wars erupt of 1911 v. Glock. Why so hard to accept the idea that hanguns, difficult to shoot in the first place, have to fit? Few people today other than some half-senile generals doubts that a combat carbine ought to have an adjustable stock to accommodate different sized people and variable weights of body armor.

    Agencies should pick a variable grip pistol or allow one of several models, and select carbines with collapsible stocks, and move on to the real issues, like how come the reactor’s most important coolant flow gauges aren’t working…..

    Reply
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