Pepsi pulls ‘stupefyingly diabolical’ ad depicting Kendall Jenner joining protest march
The spot features Jenner breaking from a modelling shoot to join the swelling ranks of a generic street march, where she defuses the tension by handing a Pepsi to a cute cop
Perhaps having celebrity model and reality TV star Kendall Jenner re-enact a seminal moment in the Black Lives Matter protest movement to sell Pepsi wasn’t such a good idea after all.
After initially defending its online video featuring Jenner and a can of soda as peacemakers in a street standoff between marchers and police, PepsiCo pulled the controversial spot amid widespread backlash.
Posted on Monday, the nearly three-minute “Live For Now Moments Anthem” video generated about 1.8 million views on Pepsi’s YouTube page, with about 29,000 dislikes and thousands of negative comments, before suddenly “going private” midday on Wednesday.
“Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding,” the company said Wednesday afternoon in a post on its website. “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 roll-out. We also apologise for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”
Created by Pepsi’s in-house ad agency, the sweeping spot features Jenner breaking from a modelling shoot, doffing a blonde wig and joining the swelling ranks of a generic street march, where she defuses the tension by handing a Pepsi to a cute cop.
The Twitterverse erupted with derision, outrage and threats to boycott the beverage company.
“They screwed up,” said New York-based branding strategist Peter Shankman. “It happens. Someone dropped the ball.”