Pepsi: Kendall Jenner TV Spot
Pepsi is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to successful marketing campaigns…just think about the numerous funny ads hitting back at their longtime rivals, Coca-Cola.
However, in 2017, their “Live for Now” short film commercial starring Kendall Jenner, things didn’t go quite as planned. Pepsi’s intention was for their product to be associated with unity, peace and understanding. In attempting to project their global message, Pepsi enraged Black Lives Matter supporters by having Kendall Jenner, a white woman, offering a can of Pepsi to police officers at a protest, thus trivializing the entire BLM movement.
The spot was widely criticized and ridiculed on social media, prompting Pepsi officials to announce that “we did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout.”
1 thought on “11 Advertising Campaigns That Backfired Spectacularly”
That McDonalds ad was not at all objectionable. In brief for those who haven’t seen it, a boy (maybe 10 or 11 years old) is asking his mom about his dead father. He is not bereaved, he does not even remember his father who died long ago. His mom points out a number of things in describing him. Each time, the thing about the dad is different than the son. (Sharp dresser, shiny shoes, good at sport, all the girls were attracted to him… while the boy notices his shirt untucked, his sneakers dirty, he kicks a soccer ball and flubs it, and some girls passing by only give him a look of disgust). But when they get to McD and he opens his fish sandwich box, his mom says ‘that was your dad’s favorite too’. For the first time he hears something he has in common with his late dad.
Not a thing in the world wrong with that and the people who spend all their time looking for reasons to be offended should get a life. Nobody was using bereavement to sell sandwiches.