(From “Footnotes” by James Bates, Los Angeles Times, page D1 (Business Section), Monday, April 17, 1995. January 1995. Reproduced without permission. For my personal use only.)
For anyone who hasn’t had enough hype about supermodels, now comes PepsiCo’s just-published annual report.
It contains six photos—including a cover shot—of supermodel and Pepsi spokeswoman Cindy Crawford, who is touted as a “typical investor” in the soft drink company.
Crawford is seen standing amid various charts and graphs on such unglamorous subjects as Pepsi income from continuing operations and its snack foods market share.
In a stretch, Pepsi in the report rationalizes using pictures of Crawford as follows: “To humanize the facts, figures and financial data of our annual report, we decided to aim it at a real-live person—a typical investor-next-door. We chose Cindy Crawford.”
Sprinkled through Pepsi Chief Executive Wayne Calloway’s stockholder message are such phrases as “as I was telling Cindy” and “as I pointed out to Cindy.”
Reproduced without permission from “Footnotes” by James Bates, Los Angeles Times, page D1 (Business Section), January 1995. For my personal use only.