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At issue
Pepsi invested in a bottling plant in Burma; in recent years, Burma’s brutal military regime has quashed all political opposition. Levi Strauss pulled out of Burma last year because of such human-rights violations, stating, “It is not possible to do business in Burma without directly supporting the military government.”
Impact
The boycott, which began in 1992, is backed by Canadian and U.S. groups such as the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Burma. “Deciding to do business in . . . Burma [was] one of the toughest decisions,” wrote a Pepsi exec recently. “[But] we believe that . . . trade is a positive factor in changing the world.” Uh huh!
