Pepsi, the American juggernaut known for its soft drinks had a really bad rep today on Twitter thanks to a certain ad that they published today.
.@Pepsi, this ad is trash. pic.twitter.com/x4iUd6hJYm
— deray (@deray) April 4, 2017
It featured the famous Kendall Kardashian reaching out to the police with a Pepsi can, which was seen by people on Twitter as an appropriation of a certain Black Lives Matter movement moment where a lady stood out to the police.
After the ad was aired today, people went on to express their anger towards Pepsi on platforms like Twitter.
This guy took a capitalistic view of the matter
The Pepsi commercial shows us that capitalism will steal our lives and then find multiple ways to make a profit of our death.
— Abbas (@Abbas_Muntaqim) April 5, 2017
Others wanted people to boycott their brands
I'm boycotting all @Pepsi products until they apologize for this blasphemy. Here's a list of their brands: https://t.co/9Rf91nLVyX pic.twitter.com/HsvUvj27Bl
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) April 5, 2017
Then it quickly turned into a fest where people ridiculed Pepsi
You should have seen the rejected Pepsi commercial
https://twitter.com/WallaceWylie/status/849408904048107523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Fentry%2Ftwitter-kendall-jenner-pepsi-commercial_us_58e44334e4b03a26a367577e
Pepsi briefing for the ad
https://twitter.com/thelollcano/status/849415616184410113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Fentry%2Ftwitter-kendall-jenner-pepsi-commercial_us_58e44334e4b03a26a367577e
It’s good I got Pepsi on me
https://twitter.com/3xans/status/849482401608814592
But they don't know I'm carrying a Pepsi on me pic.twitter.com/o3bTEWfg4u
— 🌟 (@divinealinement) April 5, 2017
This backlash was so widespread, it actually made Pepsi to take down the ad they published on YouTube and subsequently post an apology statement regarding the ad. It says:
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.
This incident will become a point of reflection in future discussions of how companies should structure their ads so that they do not seem to infringe on certain aspects people find sensitive. This means back to the drawing board for Pepsi and other companies alike
