It was literally an overnight sensation. Yesterday, we were introduced to Pepsi's new commercial starring Kendall Jenner. The advertisement follows a supermodel who during her shoot, has been convinced to join a rally, she then removes her blonde wig, pushes through a crowd, grabs a Pepsi, walks to the front line and hands the Pepsi to a police officer, the crowd then cheers (as if handing the Pepsi to the officer solved the social justice problem). When I say #BlackTwitter and social media dragged the commercial through the mud. Pulling out every nuance. They spared Pepsi no mercy. Even Dr. Kings daughter tweeted saying, "I guess all my dad needed was a Pepsi".
Now Pepsi has produced amazing advertising campaigns throughout the decades. But did they go too far? I can admit I was initially very offended. How could Pepsi miss the mark? I assumed their marketing department has highly experienced professionals who would have caught this. Last night, I posted my outrage on Instagram (@thenewblackera), the discussions and repost's soon followed.
This morning I rewatched the campaign and saw the misguided intentions behind the ad. I noticed the diversity in the crowd, the soft visuals of unity and the personification of police officers. Yet and still, the ad is still a huge miss. But what can we as marketers and entrepreneur's learn from this?
PEOPLE CARE and we are living in a very CULTURALLY SENSITIVE SOCIETY. Diversity in marketing and advertisements is important, cultural relativity is important, representation is important. And if you're making a statement, consider the sensitivity. Imagine the PR to get in good standing.
The results are in .....PEPSI HAS PULLED THE ADVERTISEMENT. Today's lesson:
1. Your voice matters
2. Continue to call out companies
3. Make sure you have a team who critiques your campaign from all vantage points.