In a year chalked-full of terrible, ill-conceived and poorly executed ads, one takes the cake: Kendall Jenner solving complicated protest issues with Pepsi.
Pepsi thought the Kardashian-lite would be perfect for a woke ad on protests. Shocker, she wasn’t. Instead, Jenner and Pepsi glamorized protest and police brutality. It got yanked off-air immediately.
I wrote about the ad extensively in 2017. It was fucking terrible and was a mistake that could have been easily avoided by simple, critical thinking. Jenner herself lamented she “feels like my life was over.” That’s how awful the commercial was. It made headlines for all the wrong reasons, with many shocked it was conceived, filmed and released to the general public. Even months after its initial release, it’s still jarring to see a major corporation lack awareness in such a major way. It didn’t help Jenner is the antithesis of real-life struggles and is among the most privileged people on the planet.
Hopefully, Pepsi learned from their mistake and take a more sensitive approach when tackling serious issues in the future, especially in this tough political climate. Or, simply avoid trying to make political statements in commercials altogether. Jeez, what a dumb ad.
