Pepsi misses the mark with Jenner ad

A controversial Pepsi commercial aired this week and people are up in arms – for good reason. The commercial stars “pop culture icon and renowned model” Kendall Jenner as she leads a group of people of color in a protest.

Taking an oppressed group of people and showing their bravery/struggle and dismantling it to the point where a simple can of Pepsi can stop police brutality is just ignorant and utterly humiliating to the company. At the beginning of the ad, Jenner even runs out from a photo shoot, throws her wig into a black woman’s arms, and proceeds out into the crowd – a crowd completely composed of minorities.

The protest seems to be an utter failure until Jenner shows up. The group met resistance from the police, stopping their cause in its tracks. But have no fear, Jenner is here with a can of ice-cold Pepsi. Pepsi took a controversial stance, thinking it would resonate with the youth that are fighting for their equal rights and making things change is as simple as handing an officer a can of soda. They were wrong.

Originating from the Ferguson riots, many have followed along and even participated in similar protests in the face of police brutality and racial discrimination. These have stemmed from 2014 and have not stopped since. With Pepsi slandering this level of unrest for an advertisement is appropriating a racial movement and wiping away the true meaning of police brutality, along with America’s integrated racism, that is only getting worse under Trump

Many on social media platforms are mocking Pepsi, Jenner, and the entire commercial by comparing the ad to a viral photo of a young woman protester facing the police with pride with the caption: “Nevertheless, she persisted.” The quote originated in early February when Republican Senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky tried to silence Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

These minority groups, who have been called overly sensitive, are upset about Pepsi making a joke of their protest efforts for change. White people have been openly accepted to participate in racial protests before, but that’s not what this commercial was. You can’t end racism, discrimination, whitewashing, and make everyone happy with a single can of soda, Pepsi. You can’t sit back and criticize people for being sensitive about a commercial when you haven’t taken the backlash a community has faced for equality into consideration.

Pepsi put in the effort to try and relate to young protesters, but failed with the whitewashing. A white woman is not needed by any capacity to solve their problems. A single white woman cannot end racially motivated police brutality with a single can of Pepsi. Maybe, just maybe, a white woman can end racism with a 6-pack, so try that.

Pepsi pulled the ad down 24 hours later and apologized after they met criticism from social media outlets like Twitter and Tumblr. The original version can’t be found, but Pepsi is still showing a longer version that shows the backstory, framing the protest as a march for peace that the original omits.