Society

Pepsi Misses the Mark with “Cringeworthy” Commercial

Pepsi Misses the Mark with “Cringeworthy” Commercial
Christina Comben

A higher power may forgive all sins. But social media doesn’t pardon anyone. Pepsi is the latest global giant suffering the unbridled wrath of Twitter. In their latest stomach-curdling ad, supermodel, Kendall Jenner walks through a crowd of political protesters to hand a policeman a Pepsi. Everyone cheers.

Near the knuckle

Kendall Jenner is undergoing strong criticism for undermining the Black Lives Matter protests and campaign. Critics believe the ad is based on recent protests about police brutality against black people in America. And that’s not something that should be messed with. Least of all, around the time of the anniversary of black rights hero, Martin Luther King Jr.’s, assassination.

Pepsi Commercial-1

Some people are even suggesting that the commercial of Kendall is similar to a snapshot captured of Leshia Evans.  The woman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who was then charged by riot police in 2016.

Pepsi Commercial-2

Condemned by the Huffington Post as “so tone-deaf it hurts,” the two-and-a-half-minute commercial features imagery of different protests that took place before and after Donald Drumpf’s election. It depicts the anger felt by many, especially young millennials. And then harnesses it to promote their number-one selling soda drink.

As the supermodel detains her photo shoot to stride through the multi-race crowd of protesters, they watch on in admiration. Smiling and raising their hands in the air in appreciation as she shares the beverage with a police officer.

Pepsi defends the ad

Pepsi defends the commercial as an effort to capture the spirit of the moment and unite people divided by race, creed and political orientation. It certainly seems to have done that. United them to tear the advert to shreds on Twitter, at least.

Pepsi reportedly told Adweek: “This is a global ad that reflects people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony, and we think that’s an important message to convey.”

Pepsi Commercial-3

Kendall has yet to comment.

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