YOU DONE DID IT NOW PEPSI!
Pepsi!
Let’s talk.
Are there any black people on your advertising team? Wait, let me fix that. Are there any black people on your advertising team that won’t sell out their people and our struggle for a quick buck? Did you all not see last week’s episode of “Black-ish”? Probably not, so let me give you a quick synopsis.
In the episode titled “Richard Youngsta”, Dre believes his super power is being able to be the black voice in his office; giving his fellow white advertisers the 411 on all things black. Now Dre might feel empowered by that shit but that’s an extremely exhausting weight to bear. That’s a blog for another day though!
Moving on, Dre creates this ad campaign for a new champagne with a rapper played by Chris Brown. The commercial features this rapper pouring the champagne on bad things and making them better. It even features the rapper pouring the champagne on a Black woman and turning her white. Dre shows the commercial to his family and the kids love it. Bow and Ruby ain’t for that coon shit.
Now, let’s tie this back to Pepsi. Let’s assume there is someone like Dre on their PR and Marketing Team.
Pepsi Dre is like: “Hey, I saw this amazing picture of a woman at a Black Lives Matter protest. She was standing in the face of adversity with all the grace and calm in the world. Let’s recreate that for our next ad.”
Pepsi Dre’s boss says: “Cool. Who should we cast?”
Pepsi Dre says: “Hmmm the kids sure do love those Jenner girls. Let’s get Kylie. She looks kind of black and she’s dating that tiger rapper.”
Other Pepsi Employee: “Kylie’s unavailable. She and Tiger broke up again.”
Pepsi Dre: “That’s fine. We’ll go with Kendall. And instead of just standing there, she’ll give an officer a Pepsi as a peace offering.”
The crowd goes wild and scene.
This is probably not the how the actual conversation went but I like my version better.
After viewing the commercial, I got sick to my stomach. The nausea was and still is very much real. Here are my problems with the commercial:
What the fuck are these people protesting? These vague ass signs. Pepsi, you had the opportunity to really make a statement about all the bullshit that’s tearing our country apart but you played it safe.
Why are these protestors so damn happy? I’ve been to a few demonstrations in my life and no one is usually smiling for pictures and throwing up peace signs. Like Dr. King said: “A riot is the language of the unheard.” If you are protesting something, you are usually a bit ticked off about whatever injustice is occurring.
Why is Kendall only called to action when a dude winks at her? Bitch, you done seen’t the protest happening for a minute now. Why is her activism connected to a man? Why is that her deciding factor of involvement? Dude wasn’t even that fine (P.S. I’m really glad it wasn’t a Black dude because I’d really be pissed. You know how that family treats Black men). Pepsi Patriarchal Bullshit!
And lastly: Why are we praising a white woman for the actions many black women have taken? The major outrage toward this commercial is directed towards its horrible depiction of this photo.
I know the cops in the right photo are just actors but notice how the cops on the left are cowering in fear of this tiny woman in a dress, simply because of her skin. Black women are viewed as angry and aggressive in our society while white women get all the glory. STOP IT!
Pepsi, you have stepped in it! Did you really think this was a good idea? Sharing a fucking can of nasty ass cola isn’t going to solve the issues of police brutality and institutionalized racism! You shouldn’t have even insinuated, hinted at or tried to depict that. It’s too personal and too real of a situation to even play pretend with.
Don’t do it again Pepsi. But hey, if Pepsi Dre got ya’ll in some hot water and you need some PR/crisis communication assistance, HOLLA AT YA GIRL!