Companies have to generate money one way or another, and one of the best ways to do so is to, well, advertise. Last year, Coca-Cola released an ad featuring some steamy sections, but the ad did not raise eyebrows. After all, it is their brand. On Tuesday when Pepsi unveiled its new ad, on the other hand, activists were up in arms about it.
Just what did the Ad look like?
Pepsi used the reality TV icon Kendall Jenner to promote the piece. That is quite normal because companies usually utilize famous people to sell their product lines. Famous, recognizable faces tend to hold sway over people’s perception of quality. Nothing seemed wrong there.
The ad begins with Jenner doing a photo shoot on the street.
Behind her, a crowd passes by. Not just any mob though. The group in the background consists of some good-looking protesters. It is not immediately evident what the protest is about, but the protesters hold placards with messages like ‘love’ and ‘peace.’
Jenner is distracted from the shoot by the protesters milling by. Quite suddenly, she joins in. She takes off the tools of her trade (her wig and lipstick) before sharing in the camaraderie among the protesters. A few minutes in, Jenner moves out to the front of the crowd. She pulls out a chilled Pepsi from an ice bucket and hands it to one of the officers ‘watching over’ the crowd.
Somebody snaps a photo at that moment then the crowd vi0.
On both sides
Most people generally ignore ads, but not this one. Consumers condemned this ad and called it a mockery of serious issues.
An activist named DeRay McKesson told NBC News, “I think Pepsi’s advert just makes light of the gravity of protests.” McKesson cited several protests which made differences in US policy to accentuate his statement. To add to insult to injury, McKesson stated, Pepsi had not even apologized to the protestors who he felt had been mocked by the advert.
Other consumers took to social media to vent their anger of the ad. They said that the ad mocked the treatment of police treatment of protesters, particularly the African Americans ones. Even Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Bernice King, was part of the melee. In a tweet that sparked further outrage against Pepsi, she put the caption ‘If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi’ under a black-and-white photo of her father being pushed back amid a protest. Hers was of one of many tweets that satirized the ‘mockery’ that many believe Pepsi had perpetrated in the ad.
Pepsi released a statement on Wednesday defending the advert. The statement read that the soft drink manufacturing giant was apologetic and that it was not trying to make light of protests. Pepsi had only been trying to advocate for world peace, inclusion, and unity but “clearly missed the mark”, the statement said. The company also let it be known that it intended to halt the airing of the ad, which it did on Wednesday.
It seems that ad agencies will have a lot to think about from now on.
