Indra Nooyi clears air over middle finger analogy

PepsiCo's global president and chief financial officer (CFO), Indra Nooyi today sought to clear the air over the controversy stirred up by her analogy equating the United States to the middle finger by stating that her comments were misconstrued and depicted in a different context as unpatriotic.

"As part of this illustration, I assigned five of the world's continents to the different fingers and thumb. I refer to North America and particularly the U.S. as the middle finger because it is the longest and anchors every function the hand performs. The middle finger also is key to all the fingers working together effectively. That is how I view America's place of importance in the world," Nooyi said in a statement.

"Although nothing could be further from the truth, I regret any confusion or concern that I may have inadvertently created. I am proud and honored to call home is a "promised land" that I love dearly. I would never say or do anything to detract from our great nation and its people who have done so much for so many, including myself," she added.

Nooyi contended that while addressing the 2005 graduating class of Columbia University's business school in New York she used the analogy of a human hand to illustrate that people in countries around the globe need to join together to make the world work in harmony - just as all the fingers of a hand work together.

"It is an illustration that I learned when I was a student, and that I have shared with others on many different occasions," Nooyi added.