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Pepsi Rightfully Pull Kendall Jenner's Pepsi Ad!
Pepsi have pulled their recent advert after fair criticism that it used protest movements such as ‘Black Lives Matter’ for commercial gain.
In a statement, the brand said "Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologise. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further rollout.”
If you are yet to see the whole ad, prepare yourself for a cringe-worthy 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
As you can see not only is it just terrible, it’s clearly been thought of and created by people who have never been to a march in their lives.
I am all for a company embracing the idea of activism and shedding more light on political, social and cultural struggles but not to thoughtlessly sell their product.
The Pepsi advert doesn’t appear to actually be standing for anything and never explains what the protest is for, with one sign just reading ‘conversation’.
The advert has drawn obvious comparisons to the photo of Ieshia Evans facing down police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana last year at a demonstration after Alton Sterling was fatally shot by police.
If that photo was part of the inspiration behind the ad then that is pretty tasteless.
Ieshia Evans is a black woman, a nurse and mother who travelled from New York to be part of the protests, compared to Kendall Jenner, a rich, white, ‘celebrity’ who epitomises someone who has had an easy life so far.
In other offensive advertising news, Nivea have also had to pull a campaign after its ‘White Is Purity’ slogan unsurprisingly didn’t go down so well either.
