Right-wing boycotters have set their sights on another major brand: Doritos.
Conservatives online have been calling for a boycott of the popular chip brand, which is owned by PepsiCo, over its social media partnership with Spanish transgender influencer Samantha Hudson.
Doritos Spain had worked with Hudson for a 50-second branded video called “Crunch Talks” featured on the 24-year-old singer’s Instagram page, though the post has since been taken down, NBC News reported.
Representatives for Doritos, PepsiCo, and Hudson did not immediately respond to BI’s request for comment.
On Tuesday, Doritos Spain announced it was cutting ties with Hudson because of comments she reportedly made that resurfaced online, Newsweek reported.
Those comments included Hudson once mocking rape victims and — in a post from when she was 15 years old — saying she wanted to do “depraved” things to a 12-year-old girl, according to Rolling Stone.
Hudson also gave a Spanish TV interview saying she advocated for “the abolition of the traditional monogamous nuclear family,” as Rolling Stone translated.
Hudson has apologized for her past posts since becoming famous, chalking them up to being an edgy teen.
“I don’t remember having written such barbarities,” she wrote, according to a Rolling Stone translation. “At that time, I dedicated myself to saying nonsense, the heavier the better, because I thought that ‘dark humor’ was funny.”
But it was too late for her partnership with Doritos.
“We have ended the relationship and stopped all related campaign activity due to the comments,” a spokesperson for Doritos Spain told Rolling Stone, adding that the company only became aware of Hudson’s past comments after working with her. “We strongly condemn words or actions that promote violence or sexism of any kind.”
Doritos clarified that Hudson’s gender identity didn’t factor into their decision to stop working with her.
Right-wing activists are flexing their power
The hashtag #BoycottDoritos has been trending this week on X (formerly Twitter), with some users even calling for a boycott of all PepsiCo products.
It’s the latest example of conservative activists using the power of boycotts to put pressure on massive brands.
Anti-trans critics blacklisted Target last year over its LGBTQ Pride-themed merchandise, which included “tuck-friendly” swimsuits for adults and t-shirts with the slogan “Trans people will always exist!”
And many of the anti-Doritos posts on X this week have specifically referenced the Bud Light boycott last year when conservatives vowed to never again drink the beer after it partnered with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
The beermaker’s sales even dropped as a result but have since picked back up again, a potential sign that conservative boycotts aren’t a death sentence for a brand.
While brand boycotts are nothing new, experts previously told Business Insider that political polarization in the US, combined with culture wars and panic-stoking media coverage, have been gaining steam in recent years.
Ultimately, brands are facing a choice between backing down or facing the firestorm.
