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Rumors of new Pepsi logo mirroring Israeli flag spark backlash in Lebanon

Lebanese attorney files criminal complaint against soft drink giant PepsiCo, after rumors of new logo reminiscent of Israel’s flag spark backlash.

By World Israel News Staff

Rumors of a planned change to the Pepsi logo have sparked a backlash in Lebanon, fueled in part by tensions over the ongoing conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border.

Lebanese media outlets have reported that claims of a planned change to the Pepsi logo appearing on the bottle cap of drinks produced by the local Lebanese franchise of the PepsiCo brand have circulated on social media in the past few days, fomenting widespread anger at the beverage giant.

The social media posts feature photographs purportedly showing a new bottle cap being produced by the Lebanon-based S.M.L.C. company, the bottler of Pepsi Cola in Lebanon.

The bottle caps featured in the posts include a newly designed Pepsi logo, which features only the colors blue and white, in contrast to the existing logo’s blue, white, and red.

Critics say the purported new logo design mirrors the Israeli flag, which is also blue and white.

Tensions with Israel remain high, as fighting continues between the IDF and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror organization, which launched a wave of major attacks on northern Israel on October 8th, following Hamas’ invasion of Israel a day earlier.

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The backlash over the alleged logo change led attorney Mohammed Ziad Jaafil to file a formal complaint with the Beirut Public Prosecutor Office on Wednesday, demanding that the production of the new bottle caps be halted and any products bearing the new logo be removed from the market.

In additional, Jaafil called for a criminal investigation of the company, alleging the logo violated anti-Israel boycott laws and incited strife.

PepsiCo has not announced plans for a new logo in Lebanon, and has not confirmed the claims on social media.

Recently, soft drink giant Coca-Cola came under fire for an advertisement run in Bangladesh, aimed at distancing the brand from Israel and touting the company’s pro-Palestinian bona fides.

Social media users noted, however, that the ad’s claim that Coca-Cola operates a factory “in Palestine” was misleading, as the Atarot facility is in eastern Jerusalem, under sovereign Israeli control.

Coca-Cola also maintains several manufacturing plants elsewhere in Israel, despite the ad’s claim that Coca-Cola is “not at all from that place.”