Why did the Pepsi commercial with Kendall Jenner fail?
Analysts and activists criticized the commercial starring Kendall Jenner, which they accused of trivializing social movements and not understanding the 'millennial' generation.
On Tuesday, Pepsi published an online commercial starring model Kendall Jenner, which was harshly criticized by activists and experts who called it insensitive and trivializing the struggle of the African-American community for equal rights and against racism.
Less than a day was enough for the refreshment company to inform that the ad would be withdrawn from all its platforms and offer a public apology for not having fulfilled its objective of "projecting a global message of unity, peace and understanding."
[OBJECT] The 02:36 minute commercial shows hundreds of young people, of different races, demonstrating on the streets of some American city. These people march in front of the building where Kendall Jenner, dressed in a blonde wig, takes a photo session and looks at them with surprise and curiosity.
Young people, black, white, Hispanic, Muslim, continue marching until a boy smiles at the model and with a gesture from her invites her to join. She peels off her wig and makeup and, not only does she join the march, she leads it as well. Arriving in front of a security fence, Jenner offers a can of Pepsi to one of the policemen, and when he accepts and opens the soda, the protesters erupt in jubilation.
In her apology statement, Pepsi assured that she intended to project a message of unity, peace and understanding, however she did not succeed. Pepsi tried to project a message of unity, peace and understanding. We clearly did not make it, and we apologize. We did not want to downplay such a relevant topic. We are removing the content and stopping any further implementation of it. We also apologize to Kendall Jenner for putting her in this position.
— Pepsi (@pepsi) April 5, 2017
Criticism rained down on the multinational, which various activists accused of trivializing the #BlackLivesMatter movement, dedicated to the fight for equal rights for the African-American community in the United States.
Even Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, joined the criticism and posted on her Twitter the message: If only dad had known about the power of #Pepsi, accompanied by a photograph of her father during a peaceful demonstration in which white police officers they pushed it.
If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi. pic.twitter.com/FA6JPrY72V
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) April 5, 2017
This is not the only similarity of the commercial with iconic images and historical facts. Kendall Jenner's act of handing a "Pepsi of Peace" to a police officer is reminiscent of the photograph of the American student putting flowers on the barrel of a police officer's shotgun during university demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the early 1920s. 60s.
Likewise, the moment when the model stands in front of the security fence, it refers to the photograph of Ieshia Evans, a nurse who peacefully confronted riot police trying to end a protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on September 9. July of last year.
Despite the fact that she did not exert violence, on that occasion she Evans was arrested during the demonstration carried out by African-American citizens who demanded the death of a young black man at the hands of policemen.
Another reason that could have contributed to the failure of the commercial is that it was devised and carried out by Creator League Studio, the creative area of the same company, which did not allow other eyes, outside the company, to analyze the message, says the site specialized Adweek.
Likewise, the brand expert, Eric Thomas, who is a senior partner at the American marketing and advertising firm Saga MKTG, carried out an analysis of the commercial, in which he points out that one of the great mistakes of Pepsi was not knowing how to address the generation millennial.
"If you're going into the millennial market, remember that you're going to an open forum. This is not a one-way conversation. This generation is especially tough when it comes to getting them into a mold or even talking about them. The narrative of a young person who joins in on the action because of the passion shown by his peers and because of the empathy of the challenges others experience, it can be amazing.
But the story of a young woman, encouraged by a handsome boy to deliver a Pepsi to a police as a symbol that "peace can be bought" is not even close to the same, "he published.
