writes and, having writ, erases, rewrites and attempts to move on. Yesterday the Web site of PepsiCo flagged Indra Nooyi's public relations statement on her graduation remarks at the Columbia Business School MBA recognition ceremony this past Sunday. In her statement Ms. Nooyi wrote that her remarks had unfortunately been "misconstrued."

As John notes below, PepsiCo has now replaced Ms. Nooyi's statement with an apology. On second thought, with the text of the speech having been made available, Ms. Nooyi no longer blames her audience or readers for misconstruing her speech, but herself for "unintentionally depict[ing] our country negatively and hurt[ing] people." The statement now posted on PepsiCo's site reads:

Following my remarks to the graduating class of Columbia University’s Business School in New York City, I have come to realize that my words and examples about America unintentionally depicted our country negatively and hurt people.

I appreciate the honest comments that have been shared with me since then, and am deeply sorry for offending anyone. I love America unshakably – without hesitation – and am extremely grateful for the opportunities and support our great nation has always provided me.

Over the years I’ve witnessed and advised others how a thoughtless gesture or comment can hurt good, caring people. Regrettably, I’ve proven my own point. Please accept my sincere apologies.

Reader John Lynn observes that Ms. Nooyi's "comparing her prepared commencement address with someone's off-hand remarks is still taking the easy way out." Suffice it to say that PepsiCo's public relations response to the reaction to Ms. Nooyi's speech is a work in progress.

I notice that in the fall of 2002 Ms. Nooyi spoke at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business:

Nooyi talked about her lessons for success in business: (1) change before you're forced to; (2) focus on your strengths (as PepsiCo did when removing the restaurant business and increasing their food and beverage offerings); (3) set clear financial criteria and don't let the emotion of the deal obstruct reason (this philosophy allowed PepsiCo to wait patiently while Coca-Cola bid higher for Quaker; ultimately PepsiCo bought Quaker at their original offering price); (4) pray a lot, but plan more (Nooyi described how she planned 400 separate integration projects after the Quaker merger), and (5) numbers matter, but you live and die by people (PepsiCo supports employees with strong communication and work-life balance policies).

She had a final piece of advice for students: "Acknowledge what you don't know. If you're lost, stop and ask for directions."

Does PepsiCo know that it's lost? If the email from our readers is any indication, we know that it's receiving significant guidance in the nature of directions. Indeed, it is striking how relevant each element of Ms. Nooyi's 2002 advice is to the problem PepsiCo confronts today, how she herself ignored the advice in her graduation remarks, and how far superior the advice is to the sophomoric diatribe she instead chose to inflict on her audience at the Columbia MBA recognition ceremony earlier this week.

DEACON adds: When a corporation like PepsiCo offends a racial minority (or at least offends Jesse Jackson), it customarily pays a monetary tribute by funding one of Jackson's organizations. Maybe PepsiCo can make good on its apology by finding a way to assist the brave Americans who have sacrificed during America's efforts to extend a hand (not a finger) to those who have suffered from oppression in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe PepsiCo can extend its own hand to the liberated but still suffering people of those countries.