a host of companies has been accused of making statements about russia that “look better than their actions” according to the moral rating agency the moral rating agency has published a list of companies both in the us and overseas that it accuses of “moralwashing” or making confusing statements about their involvement with russia the 12 companies on “the communications hall of shame” include pepsico inc pep  johnson  johnson jnj  chevron corp cvx  procter  gamble co pg  dell technologies inc dell and goldman sachs group inc gs  to compile its latest report the moral rating agency analyzed the announcements of 112 companies that were involved in russia at the time of the ukraine invasion on feb 24 the agency classified “communications failure” into four categories “confusing wording” “wriggleroom wording” “red herring” statements and not disclosing one or more russian activities properly which the researchers describe as “corporate amnesia” “the 12 worst offenders didn’t just fail to exit russia properly” said moral rating agency founder mark dixon in a statement “they also frequently moralwashed their failures by saying one thing and doing another” see now six months after russia invaded ukraine moral rating agency’s ‘courage index’ analyzes companies’ statements on kremlin’s aggression “continuing to work with russia is immoral but moralwashing it is ‘doubly immoral’” he added pepsico is at the top of the moral rating agency’s list researchers accused the consumer goods giant of “confusing wording” on several points “corporate amnesia” about its snack production business in russia and issuing a “red herring” statement the moral rating agency pointed to a reuters report last month that pepsico had stopped making pepsi 7up and mountain dew in russia nearly six months after the company said it would suspend sales and production in the country reuters reported that it had visited dozens of supermarkets retailers and gyms in moscow and other areas and found pepsi cans and bottles which were printed with july and august production dates from factories in russia on march 8 pepsico published a letter sent from ceo ramon laguarta to the company’s associates via email in the letter he announced the suspension of “the sale of pepsicola and our global beverage brands in russia including 7up and mirinda” see now kremlin could seize russian assets of us companies warns moral rating agency a spokesperson for pepsico referred marketwatch to a recent statement from the company “in line with the announcement we made in march 2022 we ceased the manufacture of relevant concentrates for pepsicola mirinda 7up and mountain dew in the russian market and suspended capital investments advertising and promotional activities in russia” the company said “all concentrates have subsequently been exhausted in russia and production has ended” the moral rating agency feels that pepsico used confusing wording in its statement released on march 8 “when using the word ‘sale’ the company’s initial statement didn’t specify that it was only suspending deliveries of concentrates which the company only clarified when the continuing production and sales were exposed by reuters” it said in its research the moral rating agency accused dell of “corporate amnesia” regarding its ownership of a development center in st petersburg it was months before the center’s closure was announced according to the agency a spokesperson for dell told marketwatch that the company closed its offices and ceased all russian operations in midaugust “back in february we made the decision to not sell service or support products in russia belarus and the donetsk and luhansk regions of ukraine in addition to the already embargoed crimea” the spokesperson added in an emailed statement regarding johnson  johnson the moral rating agency accuses the company of using “confusing wording” arguing that personal care products had been included in what are classified as “essential medial products” despite plenty of talk many us companies have still not fully exited russia moral rating agency a johnson  johnson spokesperson referred marketwatch to a statement released by the company on march 29 at that time johnson  johnson announced its decision to suspend supply of personal care products to russia in early march johnson  johnson suspended all advertising enrollment in clinical trials and any additional investment in russia “we will continue to support those most directly impacted and are committed to providing access to our essential medical products in the countries where we operate in compliance with current international sanctions” it said in a statement on march 4 chevron procter  gamble and goldman sachs have not yet responded to a request for comment on this story