Skip to content

VIDEO: Pepsi pulls Kendal Jenner ad after online backlash

Twitter users mocked the ad, calling it ‘insensitive’ and ‘out of touch.’
web1_170405-BPD-M-KendallJennerAd-GPS
Pepsi pulled their ad featuring Kendall Jenner after it was mocked on social media. (File photo)

Pepsi has issued an apology and removed its controversial ad featuring Kendall Jenner after the internet exploded in opposition. The ad was released on Tuesday and was gone by Wednesday morning, despite Pepsi defending the video in a statement late Tuesday night.

The ad, which featured Jenner in a platinum wig on a photo shoot as protesters walk by. She rips off her wig, smears away her lipstick and joins them before handing an officer on the demonstration line a can of Pepsi.

The officer gulps it out down, smiles at Jenner and she continue on her way.

Twitter users mocked the ad, calling it ‘insensitive’ and ‘out of touch’ and that it made light of a similarly composed photo of Black Lives Matter protester Leshi Evans last year in Louisiana. Evans was detained when she approached police at a demonstration in Baton Rouge.

In a Wednesday morning news release, the company said “Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”