HomeOPINIONControversial Pepsi Ad Backfires: Kendall Jenner Takes on Police Brutality

Controversial Pepsi Ad Backfires: Kendall Jenner Takes on Police Brutality

BY TAYLOR FARNSWORTH
Staff Writer

Pepsi and Kendall Jenner, Pepsi’s newest spokesperson, are under scrutiny following the debut of its newest ad featuring Jenner on Tuesday.

The ad was seen as a wrongful depiction of the police brutality faced by Black men and woman. What was meant to show the importance of peace and unity, essentially backfired as many took to social media and mocked Pepsi for its belittlement of social injustice and wrongful depiction of protests.

The ad shows Jenner joining a protest against police brutality on the streets as opposed to continuing with her photoshoot.

Jenner walks through the crowd and sees all of the protestors laughing, smiling, and hugging. As Jenner finally makes it towards the police officers, she hands one of them a Pepsi. The officer reluctantly accepts the Pepsi and then smiles.

The ad suggests that all protestors had to do was hand police officers a Pepsi and they would finally see an end to police brutality. Unfortunately it goes much deeper than that.

Some individuals who have been subjected to police brutality have taken to social media to voice their issue with the ad. Many have sarcastically said they didn’t realize all they needed to do was give an officer a soda for them to not be wrongfully arrested or beaten.

Some have even joked that Jenner has “ended” all of Black Lives Matter’s issues by handing a police officer a Pepsi. But it isn’t a joke to those whose lives are subjected to the harsh reality of police brutality.

It is the message behind that pivotal moment in the ad that has triggered all this backlash on social media. Not to mention the fact that the scene is overly similar to that of Ieshia Evans, a Black protestor who was detained during a protest in Baton Rouge.

The image of Evans symbolizes the power and strength of a Black woman, whereas the scene of Jenner in the ad is being taunted for its poor attempt of trying to recreate that same raw emotional response Evan’s image does.

If Pepsi was really going for that response, perhaps they should have considered hiring a Black woman and not Jenner.

While Jenner hasn’t commented on the controversy of the ad, Pepsi has. Pepsi argued that the intent of the ad was to showcase the importance of harmony and diversity.

The ad is the first part of Pepsi’s “moments” campaign. Pepsi said that Jenner’s ad was meant to show the importance of choosing to act as opposed to just being a bystander.

I have no doubt that Pepsi had good intentions, but how they decided to show those intentions could have been gone about in another way.

Thankfully, Pepsi made the conscious choice in deciding to pull the ad on Wednesday.

While some companies have touched on controversial issues in their advertising before, like Budweiser during this year’s Superbowl, Pepsi’s attempt fell short of being remotely impactful.

The ad is now being accused of appropriating Black Lives Matter, using a social injustice to sell its product.

It can be argued that not only did the ad belittle the threat faced by those who engage in police brutality protests, but it also undermines the history of civil rights.

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