Ever heard of the saying, “to pair your tacos with a cold Coca Cola?” Now, you’ll hear Latinos say, “to pair your tacos with a cold Pepsi.” But why the sudden brand change? This is due to the Latino communities recent boycott on Coca Cola and many other companies who rolled back their DEI programs.
On January 21st, Trump had signed an executive order to end all federal DEI programs. This news caused rage throughout the community because, “a lot of fellow beloved companies by Latinos are now turning their backs to the community that supports them significantly,” says Yuray Ramirez, a Junior at Palisade High School. She had this to say about the companies following through with their rollbacks of the DEI program: “It’s important to have diversity within companies to bring new perspectives, that’s also a big part of marketing. You have to have a diverse group of people with different cultural backgrounds to sell your products especially towards a certain demographic.”
Ramirez along with many other TikTok users have expressed the need for companies to have a diverse group of people to help better represent communities and bring fresh perspectives in the business world. Huge companies that are currently being boycotted by the Latino community are Coca Cola, Ross, Walmart and Sam’s club. These companies have had the support of the Latino community for years and intense company loyalty due to their affordability and easy accessibility. Now, due to recent news about these companies, the community has spread awareness about these companies and where they stand with the community and diversity. People have also been spreading information about alternatives in substitute to those once loved brands. Pepsi for example has received a lot of support from the Latino community. Pepsi has been flying off the shelves due to the recent boycott. This was observed all throughout TikTok with many videos of the Coca Cola shelf being fully stocked while Pepsi was quickly running out.
Overall, this boycott being formed by the Latino community is a fight back against discrimination with companies who make most of their profits off the Latino community. “Support the companies that support you” is the new slogan leading to this new boycott. We are now seeing the beginning of an evolution of protests and boycotts within the community to make a change in how Latinos are viewed, heard, treated and represented.
