Doritos cut ties with transgender influencer following backlash over tweets

Doritos Spain has severed ties with transgender influencer Samantha Hudson following backlash and calls for a boycott.

The brand had reportedly partnered with Hudson for a one-off campaign for a now-deleted 50-second promo called "Crunch Talks." However, soon after the announcement, Doritos faced backlash as controversial tweets by the artist began resurfacing. 

In one tweet, Hudson had reportedly shared wanting to do "depraved things" to a "12-year-old girl", according to Rolling Stone. Hudson also reportedly made an inappropriate tweet regarding an 8-year-old girl and mocked victims of sexual assault. 

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A video of the artist from 2015 also came to light where Hudson advocated for "annihilating, completely destroying and abolishing the traditional family."

The tweets have since been deleted, but screenshots continue to circulate online. 

In a statement to media, Doritos Spain reportedly said it was made aware of Hudson's deleted tweets and that the brand strongly condemns words or actions that promote violence or sexism of any kind. 

The brand reportedly added that it had ended the relationship with Hudson and stopped all related campaign activity due to the comments. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to parent company PepsiCo for more information. 

That said, calls for a boycott have begun to spread outside of Spain. 

Arturo Villa, a Spanish political analyst, tweeted a picture of Pepsi products with the message: "You should know that if you buy any of these products you will be financing people such as Hudson."

Ian Miles Cheong, a right-wing political commentator from Malaysia, tweeted "Doritos is doubling down on wokeness by hiring Hudson..."

Meanwhile, far-right accounts on X, including Libs of TikTok and End Wokeness, expressed disgust at Hudson’s Doritos video, even drawing reference to the Bud Light boycott and controversy last year. 

Bud Light garnered attention when it faced a significant boycott due to its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The brewer reportedly lost US$1.4 billion in sales due to anti-trans backlash and calls for a boycott, according to CNN.

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