Pepsi is getting a lot of traction from their latest ad featuring the Keeping Up With the Kardashian star Kendall Jenner.
The ad, titled Live For Now Moments Anthem, is being accused of capitalizing on our current political and social climate in ways that feel particularly uneasy.
Videos by PopCulture.com
In the commercial, we see a blonde Kendall in the midst of a photo shoot, while a protest takes place on the streets just a few steps away from where she is posing. As Lions by Skip Marley plays in the background, the camera cuts between the protesters, with people of all identities joining together to march with signs depicting the peace symbol.
Jenner is inspired to ditch her disguise and join the demonstration. And then, spoiler alert, Jenner offers a cop a Pepsi as a gesture of good faith the cop sips the soda.
The way the ad ends gives the viewers the confusing idea that by offering a Pepsi to the police officers (who appear to be the opposition party in this story), the protesters have achieved some kind of victory. Unfortunately, the symbolism in the idea is very much lost.
The bottom line is that while Pepsi might have had good intentions, the ad is leaving many people feeling uncomfortable.
And of course, the Internet was quick to share their uneasy feelings on the ad. Check out these Twitter reactions to the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad.
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[H/T Complex]
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Umm @pepsi ???? #pepsi #you #got #some #splainin #to #do pic.twitter.com/MtE8gllvSj
โ Amanda (@Amanda_Barlow) April 4, 2017
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@ClioAwards @KendallJenner @pepsi Kendall Jenner *commodifies the resistance
โ Gabriella (@700gabriella) April 4, 2017
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.@pepsi @KendallJenner please utilize a white model to appropriate and capitalize on a movement that is defined by race and racial disparity pic.twitter.com/juOSbq9ezG
โ Jessica Duncan (@JESSmad11) April 4, 2017
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Pepsi’s new commercial mimicking a protest is so tasteless. Bye #pepsi.
โ Macy Linton (@macymayormaynot) April 4, 2017
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This Pepsi/Kendall commercial pic.twitter.com/mZ2WwRJ3Ps
โ Doris Payne (@ohfads) April 4, 2017
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“Kendall so what you’re gonna do is pick up a can of pepsi and end social injustice issues” -Pepsi marketing team pic.twitter.com/btbUX7cgig
โ Ahmed/Rozay Top 5 (@big_business_) April 4, 2017
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Coke execs tonight after watching kendallโs pepsi ad pic.twitter.com/3u7Ti01bpi
โ JamesMichael Nichols (@JMN) April 4, 2017
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I’m glad Pepsi got a POC to play a lead role in a commercial to bring awareness on police brutality-oh it’s Kendall pic.twitter.com/W4OKh9VESB
โ the life of (@SamCruzin) April 4, 2017
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I took one nap and woke up to Kendall Jenner and Pepsi ending police brutality in America. Amazing.
โ NUFF ? (@nuffsaidNY) April 4, 2017
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You’re all missing the point of the Pepsi ad: Kendall was giving that cop diabetes.
โ Joe Nelson ? (@joe___nelson) April 4, 2017