If you haven’t been on social media this week, you probably missed the controversy going on between Pepsi, Kendall Jenner and the rest of America. If you went on Facebook, Twitter or even Instagram in the past couple days, this new was hard to miss. Social media has blown up and people can’t stop talking about or giving their opinion on Pepsi’s recent ad.
Last Tuesday, Pepsi debuted their latest commercial on YouTube. The ad was centered around the country’s recent and severe issues with policy brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. The chaos in the commercial ends and turns peaceful when Kendall Jenner hands a police officer a can of Pepsi and he gladly accepts. People across the country become outraged that Pepsi portrayed these issues as so simplistic when, in fact, they are not.
Pepsi has responded to the backlash and apologized for the issues it may have caused. They released a statement on their website discussing their intent to remove the commercial and cancelling any orders they may have placed for it to air. They defended that they were simply “trying to project a global message of unity, peace, and understanding,” rather than “make light of any serious issue,” as people are assuming.
However, Pepsi is not the only one getting heat for this ad. Americans have also been going at Kendall Jenner for being involved in the situation. Kendall posted a link to the ad on her Twitter account upon it being released. As soon as the controversy became apparent, she deleted the post. Pepsi apologized in their statements for “putting Kendall Jenner in this position.” People, however, are not sufficed with this apology. People have taken to their Twitter accounts to show their disdain. They’ve argued that Kendall is an adult who not only consciously chose to be in the ad, but also was paid to be in it. Kendall has yet to comment on the ad.
Amidst all this negativity, some publications, such as Teen Vogue and People, have chosen to stand behind the company and defend its intentions with the ad. They’ve claimed that the ad displays “a movement of unity” or that it “reflects people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony.” So whether or not you’re for or against the ad, there’s no debating that it has stirred up talk all across America.