A new Pepsi ad has apparently focused its campaign around the "Black Lives Matter" protest. And, the soft drink company has chosen Kendall Jenner to be the face of the commercial. However, not everyone is happy with the ad.
The ad shows the reality TV star doing a photo shoot in a blonde wig. As protesters from all ethnicities move past her, she looks in wonder at them. The protesters belong to various ethnicities like Asian, African American, and Hispanic. They also belong to different religions and orientations.
One of them looks at Kendall and apparently asks her to take off her false look and join the protest. She takes off her wig and rubs off her lipstick to join the demonstration. Police officers stand in a line. Kendall moves forward and takes a Pepsi can. Soon, she moves through the crowd and comes in front. She goes to one police officer, who has apparently not shaved in a while, and gives the Pepsi can to him. The officer accepts the Pepsi can and the protesters rejoice.
Now, not everyone is happy with the commercial. According to them, Pepsi has "commodified" a serious issue here. The company has been accused of going too easy about the protests and demonstrations around the world against discrimination. The photo in the ad is quite similar to that of "Black Lives Matter" activist Ieshia Evans. She walked up to a line of a riot in Louisiana and calmly stood there. Unlike Kendall in the ad, she was arrested.
According to the Huffington Post, it's an insult to Evans and other black women like her, "who put their freedom and their lives on the line to proclaim that black lives matter." It also says the Pepsi ad is insulting to every American who are mistreated and marginalized. The Los Angeles Times accuses Pepsi of being "hopelessly tone-deaf" about the grave issue.
