The soft drink giant has been criticised for its commercial that trivialises social justice and demonstrations
A lot has been said about the Pepsi commercial featuring Kendall Jenner. While it has faced backlash for what many claim is insensitive and has trivialised demonstrations aimed at tackling social justice causes. But nothing was more savage than a tweet put out by the youngest child of Dr Martin Luther King.
Bernice King, the youngest child of slain civil rights leader, had a powerful response to a new Pepsi campaign.
King is not the only one to criticize the Pepsi spot, which was released this week and struck many as a tone-deaf ad attempting to capitalize on the vague concept of social justice. But King's critique is especially biting given her father's legacy.
While issuing a statement about the ad, Pepsi said, “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 roll-out. We also apologise for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”
In the video, the 21-year-old reality star is seen coming across a scene of protest. She joins the crowd, which approaches a line of police officers. What could be a tense standoff in the real world defuses into cheers, when the ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’ star gives a Pepsi can to a police officer standing guard as a symbolic peace offering and he accepts.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Pepsi has trivialised a protest. In India, the soft drink giant made an ad, allegedly mocking the FTII hunger strike. The commercial shows students on hunger strike, expressing their refusal to back down until their demands are met. When one of the student's spots a Pepsi bottle he ends up drinking it in front of the news channel crew, making the determination of the students appear flimsy.
Watch both commercials here
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