Pepsi recently dropped an ad called “Jump In” starring the one and only, Kendall Jenner.
Essentially, Kendall is in the middle of a photo shoot wearing a blonde wig when a group of protesters pass by. After a few minutes of observing, a passerby waves her into the crowd. Before she joins them, she rips off her wig and wipes off her lipstick. As the crowd moves forward, they reach the police at the front lines. Kendall reaches for a Pepsi out of a cooler and hands it to one of the police officers. He smiles, and magically, all of the problems of the world are solved because of that Pepsi.
Now, I know that sounds crazy, and it is. We all know a single Pepsi is not going to solve the worlds problems. Some critics are calling this ad a disgrace to all of the hard work and dedication of the people from different movements for equality. Some even believe that Pepsi is making a mockery of the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Many took to twitter to demonstrate their disgust with Pepsi’s actions, saying that the Pepsi ad is an “Attractive Lives Matter” movement:
There are always two sides to every story, so here is Pepsi’s side:
Pepsi put out a statement after receiving all of the backlash stating that they wanted to promote individuality and coming together, uniting for peace. Their official apology stated: “Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace, and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”
While Pepsi is retracting this particular ad, they are still promoting their “Live for Now” campaign. This ad, and ultimately the “Live For Now” campaign was intended to “capture the spirit and actions of those people that jump in to every moment.”
Overall, the message Pepsi was actually going for is a great one, it was just very poorly executed in this ad. It is important to bring to light the issues that people are fighting tirelessly for in our nation, but this ad was done in a distasteful way.
Let’s hope the Pepsi bounces back from this scandal and finds a better way to promote their new campaign.
Photos:
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/The-best-memes-lampooning-Pepsi-s…
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1239983-kendall-jenners-pepsi-ad
https://in.style.yahoo.com/real-problem-kendall-jenner-apos-191500528.html