Pepsi have officially taken down their recent marketing campaign starring Kendall Jenner after receiving a huge public backlash on social media.
The advert features Jenner leaving a photoshoot to join a policed demonstration calling for love and peace. The model walks over to the police, hands an officer a can of Pepsi as a peace offering. The officer smiles and the crowd begin to erupt into cheers.
The public were quick to criticise the advert, accusing it of trivialising and undermining the recent Black Lives Matter movement.
Critics also voiced their confusion about the use of Jenner within the ad; accusing Pepsi of painting a picture of a “white privileged supermodel” being able to be a peacemaker between protesters and the police, with a simple can of Pepsi.
You can see some tweets from the public below:
Imagine putting your life on the line like these brave black women through history only to have it parodied by Pepsi and a Kendall Jenner pic.twitter.com/40HHcBC6JY
— swize ✊🏿 (@blackswize) April 5, 2017
"Kendall please! Give him a Pepsi!" pic.twitter.com/pO1PTYkCHW
— Antonio 💔 (@antonioscastles) April 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/wokeluisa/status/849419150028091393
Pepsi have released a statement apologising for the advert and highlighting its decision to remove the advert from YouTube only 24 hours after its release, the company wrote; ‘Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding.
‘Clearly, we missed the mark, and we apologise. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue.
‘We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologise for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.’
You can watch the extended advert below:
What do you think about the Pepsi advert? Let us know your thoughts. #BritAsiaTV
