Why are people boycotting Pepsi? Twitter trend explained as Texas Abortion Bill claim surfaces online

F&B giant Pepsi recently came under fire after claims about the company donating funds to committees involved in passing the Texas Abortion Bill made the rounds online.

Earlier this week, the Popular Information newsletter published a report alleging that the beverage company had donated $15,000 to the Texas GOP after they contributed to signing the controversial bill into law.

The publication mentioned that the company continued to aid lawmakers after The Texas Heartbeat Act was passed while promoting “women empowerment” as part of their company policy. It also named multinational conglomerate AT&T as the biggest donor for the cause with an $80,000 donation.

The first report by the newsletter was published in 2020 mentioning several companies that donated to support the abortion bill. At the time, financial data was available up until June 2021, before the bill was signed into law.

However, the updated report covered the financial data from July 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, after the ban was enacted. The outlet claimed that all businesses involved in the donations were aware of the cause.

In response to the latest revelation, several social media users took to Twitter to share their decision to boycott the beverage company for its contribution towards the debatable cause.

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Netizens react as #BoycottPepsi trends online

#BoycottPepsi trend on Twitter left the internet divided (Image via Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images)

On September 1, 2021, Texas placed an official ban on abortion under the Texas Heartbeat Act. The law prohibits people from getting an abortion after the heartbeat of a child is detected around six weeks of pregnancy.

The law allows all private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” to the procedure after the detection of “cardiac activity.” The ruling sparked widespread criticism and debate across the U.S. as people presented their conflicting opinions on the issue.

More recently, PepsiCo landed in hot water after it was revealed that the company allegedly donated to lawmakers who played “key roles” in passing the Texas Abortion Law.

Shortly after, #BoycottPepsi became a trending Twitter topic and left the internet divided. It also prompted netizens to share their contradictory reactions to the situation.

Several people took to social media to slam the company for their donations:

However, many users spoke out against the hashtag and continued to support the beverage brand:

Meanwhile, others were still left confused as to why Twitterati wanted to ban the beverage:

As reactions continue to pour in online, it remains to be seen whether the soft drink company will address the situation and respond to the boycott trend in the days to come.