PepsiCo CEO: Women want chips that don’t 'crunch too loudly'

Doritos meant just for women are being created by PepsiCo because ladies "don't like to crunch too loudly in public."

That's what the company's CEO, Indra Nooyi said in an interview with Feakonomics last week. She was speaking about the differences between how men and women enjoy chips and how that shapes the way PepsiCo thinks up new products. Nooyi said that women don't like to lick their fingers either so to appease female chip lovers who are seeking a solution to this loud, messy (non)problem, the brand is developing a version of the snack that's quieter and fits in their purses more easily.

"When you eat out of a flex bag - one of our single-serve bags - especially as you watch a lot of the young guys eat the chips, they love their Doritos, and they lick their fingers with great glee, and when they reach the bottom of the bag they pour the little broken pieces into their mouth, because they don't want to lose that taste of the flavor, and the broken chips in the bottom," Nooyi told Freakonomics. "Women would love to do the same, but they don't. They don't like to crunch too loudly in public. And they don't lick their fingers generously and they don't like to pour the little broken pieces and the flavor into their mouth."

Her solution?

“For women, low crunch, the full taste profile, not have so much of the flavor stick on the fingers,” Nooyi said. “And how can you put it in a purse? Because women love to carry a snack in their purse."

Noonyi's interview has since sparked heavy backlash on social media, prompting both women and men to question the company's design and its CEO's comments.