Kendall Jenner for Pepsi: #BlackSodasMatter
In April 2017, a commercial for Pepsi was aired, with model and reality TV star, Kendall Jenner in the starring role. The advert presented an ambiguous protest in process, in which a diverse cast of attractive featured extras are called to join the march, holding signs of a notably Pepsi identifying colour scheme, that read “love” and “join the conversation”. Supermodel Kendall Jenner is in the middle of a photoshoot when she is beckoned to join the protest march. As the protest line reaches a wall of police officers Kendall defuses the situation by handing a boyishly-handsome, police officer a can of Pepsi. The crowd celebrates in Kendall’s ability to resolve the conflict, uniting the two opposing sides. In theory, it was a simple advert that used a star power and themes of harmony and unity to endorse a company’s product. However, it was quickly pulled from air after audiences responded in criticism. This short blog post aims to unpack some of the reasons why consumers responded in this way.
According to Jean-Luc Commoli and Narboni, every film is political as it is produced in a political system [1]. The Pepsi commercial is explicitly political in its context, its plot is structured around a protest march. However, it adopts a context and language in order to appear “woke” as a conscious brand whilst gentrifying actual political protest and failing to comment on the political climate [2]. For an audience watching the commercial it is not clear what protesters are marching against, but the imagery it draws upon is certainly that of the black lives matter(BLM) movement.
Appropriating a movement against institutionalised racism and oppression was Pepsi’s error and choosing a privileged white supermodel as the face of their campaign was equally problematic. In drawing from the imagery of the BLM protests, the filmmakers borrowed from a photograph of a protesting black woman at Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Figure 1.
In a photo that has become iconic in the movement against Black oppression, Leshia Evans was captured making a peaceful stance of resistance against institutionalised racism, a stand for which she was arrested [3]. The police officers Leshia stood in front of were clad in protective armour and face guards that masked their expressions against her defiantly calm demeanour. The police officers Kendall Jenner stands in front of are wearing short sleeve shirts, Pepsi colours and project collectedness. Whilst the differences between the two scenes highlights Pepsi’s choice to dilute their own political stance, the similarities between the two images were quickly picked up by internet users who expressed their distain at the exploitation of a movement. Simply put, Kendall Jenner, a white woman with no history of political activism, is no Leshia Evans.
The climate of the political march in the Pepsi commercial is a joyous occasion in which people of different cultures and lifestyles are shoehorned together. Much like the dressed down riot police in the advert, the commercial chooses to downplay the dangers of political protest but instead presents it as a fun. The protest is illustrated as something much more similar to the carnival; music is played, people dance and everybody is colour coordinated in blues, whites and reds. However even the carnival has more to say than the Pepsi advert. According to Gaika the carnival, is a “congregation of visible bodies to challenge to the elite supremacy” [4]. The challenge being made against the system in the Pepsi advert is not a clear one, and the call to “join the conversation” is a hollow attempt to appear socially aware. The metaphorical passing of the olive branch to the police officer suggests that society’s complex problems can be resolved by simple actions, that sharing a Pepsi might just be the answer. Bernice King, took to her twitter account and in the sharing of an image of her father, Martin Luther King Jr,illustrated the naivety of this statement and disrespect felt by a people who to fight and sacrifice for their rights.
Figure 2.
Late night television was also quick to respond to the commercial and both Saturday Night Liveand Seth Meyersreacted with the release of parody sketches. Parody is used here both to entertain and expose advertising and marketing campaigns, and in this case, it draws attention to the fact that whilst Pepsi may be appear to be speaking of revolution the advert actually has nothing useful to say, other than “buy Pepsi” [5]. In the Seth Meyers sketch a black woman is shown handing a can of Pepsito a police officer, the two characters grinning at each other, before the police officer radios for back up. It is a sketch that serves as a critique of the Kendall Jenner advert, in that it illustrates that for an oppressed people, Pepsi is not the solution.
Through the use of social media, the spectator also has a platform to publicise their opinion and join in the act of parody. After the commercial was released the hashtag #blacksodasmatter became trending on twitter, referencing the #blacklivesmatter that came before. This play on words effectively critiqued Pepsi’scampaigns by highlighting how they had appropriated a movement, mocking Pepsi’s position of selling sodas when in reality people are out protesting against police brutality against black citizens.
In conclusion, the Pepsi commercial was a disaster as it appropriated imagery from a movement against institutionalised racism in order to sell its products. Pepsi chose not to make a political advert that does not take a political stance. Pepsipresented their product as the solution to conflict, belittling those who have sacrificed for protest. Using Kendall Jenner as the face of this campaign, only emphasised the commercial’s empty rhetoric as she is the face of exceptional privilege and not oppression. Late night television’s choice to parody the commercial and the trending hashtag #blacksodasmatter successfully exposed and critiqued the commercial’s fallacies. It was this response that resulted in Pepsi withdrawing the advert from the air and issuing a public apology.
References
Commoli, JL., and Narboni, P. (1971). “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism” in Screen, Vol. 12, Issue 1, pp.28-36.
Evans, L. (2016). I wasn’t afraid. I took a stand in Baton Rouge because enough is enough. The Guardian. Accessed October 16 2018.
GAIKA. (2018). The political significance of Carnival, according to GAIKA. The Fader. Accessed October 16 2018
https://www.thefader.com/2018/09/05/gaika-notting-hill-carnival-2018-essay-fader-mix
Harold, C. (2004). ‘Pranking Rhetoric: ‘Culture Jamming’ as Media Activism’, Critical Studies in Media Communication 21.3. pp. 189-211.
Shanley, P. (2017). “Pepsi apologises, pulls Kendall Jenner protest ad after criticism.” Hollywood Reporter. Accessed October 17 2018:
Watson, E.C. (2017). When being woke goes wrong: Pepsi, Black Lives Matter & Conscious Branding. OkayPlayer. Accessed October 16 2018.
http://www.okayplayer.com/originals/pepsi-black-lives-matter-conscious-branding.html
Filmography
Seth Meyers (2017). Kendall Jenner Pepsi Ad Alternative Ending. Seth Meyers Show. Youtube. Accessed October 17 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMMJX1DEHbw
SNL (2017). “Pepsi Commercial”. Saturday Night Live. YouTube. Accessed October 15 2018. https://youtu.be/Pn8pwoNWseM.
PepsiCo (2017). “Kendall Jenner for Pepsi Commercial”. Youtube. Accessed October 15 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA5Yq1DLSmQ
[1]Jean-Luc Commoli and Paul Narboni, “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism” in Screen, Vol. 12, Issue 1, March 1971, pp.28-36, p.30
[2]Watson, E.C. (2017). When being woke goes wrong: Pepsi, Black Lives Matter & Conscious Branding. OkayPlayer.
[3]Evans, L. (2016). I wasn’t afraid. I took a stand in Baton Rouge because enough is enough. The Guardian.
[4]GAIKA. (2018). The political significance of Carnival, according to GAIKA. The Fader.
[5]Harold, C. (2004). ‘Pranking Rhetoric: ‘Culture Jamming’ as Media Activism’, Critical Studies in Media Communication 21.3. pp. 189-211.