After writing this post, I visited the Pepsico website to share my feelings directly with the company. I received the following e-mail response:

Dear James,

In marketing our products, we always aim to convey a message of youthful spirit and optimism. As you can imagine, we try to make full use of events and venues from which we can reach the largest number of potential consumers with our message. For instance, Pepsi was widely visible at the New Year’s Eve celebrations in New York’s Times Square, and we currently are gearing up for our much-anticipated television advertising during the Super Bowl.

The inauguration of a president is another such event that engages a large number of people, both attending in Washington, D.C. as well as watching from living rooms around the world.

Our advertising initiatives coinciding with the inauguration reflect the hope shared by Americans of all political persuasions that our new president will succeed in meeting the serious challenges facing our country and our world. I can assure you that our marketing focus is set on reaching consumers to highlight our portfolio of beverages and snacks, and not the agenda of any political party.

Thanks for allowing us to share this information with you.

Clearly, this is a baloney response cooked up by the Marketing Department, which was, no doubt, reviewed by the communications department and the law department.

I see that Ed Morrissey of Hot Air got the same response, and he raised all the right questions, which I shall not repeat here.

Pepsi’s corporate response notwithstanding, Pepsi remains on my Shit List.