Our Pop Culture Panel looks at the troubling ends to queer characters in pop culture, a book prize that avoids violence against women, questions over charity transparency and the problems with crunchy snack foods.

Why do so many LGBTQ storylines end poorly for their characters?

Shakespeare romanticized the idea that tragedy and love are intertwined, but Gregory Caswell is among the critics who say stories about queer relationships too often end with the rejection by society or death of their characters.

Caswell started a conversation on Facebook after attending three productions in Edmonton: “Lilies,” “Shaping Sound: After the Curtain” and “Shakespeare’s R&J”and noticing that each had a tragic ending.

Celebrating stories that don’t use violence against women

LGBTQ stereotypes aren’t the only archetype our pop culture panelists take on today.

They also discuss the new Staunch Book Prize, launched by writer Bridget Lawless, which recognizes an author who writes a thriller in which no woman is “beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped, or murdered.”

The winner will receive a cash prize of about $3,500 CAD.

How transparent should commercials for charitable works be?

In a Super Bowl commercial this past weekend, Matt Damon spoke about the need to increase access to clean water in the developing world, and promoted a partnership between his foundation, Water.Org, and beer company Stella Artois.

Damon tells viewers that for every Stella Artois chalice bought, they can help deliver five years of clean water to a community.

But some fact checking revealed that it’s not that simple. How clear should advertisers be?

Designing a chip specially for women

PepsiCo has been busy back pedaling after their CEO Indra Nooyi suggested the company was developing a Doritos product specially for women that could fit inside a purse and which didn’t make as much a mess.

During a Freakonomics podcast, she said, “(Women) don’t like to crunch too loudly in public. And they don’t lick their fingers generously and they don’t like to pour the little broken pieces and the flavor into their mouth.”

PepsiCo has said, contrary to Nooyi’s suggestion, that it is not developing such a product. What kind of chip do women really want? And is this PepsiCo trying to avoid a situation like the ‘Bic For Her’ pens a few years ago?

Our Pop Culture Panel consists of: Linda Hoang, digital strategist and creator of linda-hoang.com; Ian MacKinnon, morning personality at 104.9 Virgin Radio Edmonton and Andrew Guilbert, assistant editor at Avenue Calgary.