Tone Deaf Pepsi ad

BubberMiley · April 5, 2017

5 minutes ago, Boges said:

My opinion is that a big company trying to capitalize on something like civil disobedience is misguided. Not outrageous, just dumb. And completely transparent what they're trying to do. You even have the photographer with a Hijab who's outraged at something but is comforted by a millionaire model giving a cop a soda.

Advertising is always pretty transparent about its intentions. But why is it dumb to depict civil disobedience?

Boges · April 5, 2017

6 minutes ago, BubberMiley said:

Advertising is always pretty transparent about its intentions. But why is it dumb to depict civil disobedience?

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/pepsi-ad-kendall-jenner-echoes-black-lives-matter-sparks-anger-n742811

Quote

If the Black Lives Matter movement were led by a 21-year-old white supermodel armed with a can of fizzy soda, then maybe everyone would just get along.

That's the vision presented in Pepsi's new ad featuring reality TV star Kendall Jenner — which has been met with widespread condemnation, with critics accusing the drinks giant of appropriating a nationwide protest movementfollowing police shootings of African Americans.

In the ad released Tuesday, Jenner is in the middle of a photo shoot when she happens to notice a protest march making its way down the street.

It's not clear what the smiling, attractive demonstrators are upset about, the only clues being their placards reading "peace" and "love" and "join the conversation."

But Jenner decides to join them anyway, beckoned into the throng by a handsome man with a cello. She rips off her blonde wig, wipes away her lipstick and joins the marchers. The beaming, break-dancing protesters are a far cry from the often fractious demonstrations that have broken out across the United States over the past few years.

This is not coming from the Right. People are outraged because of the cultural appropriation depicted. The white washing of a political movement.

In the cite above there's a Tweet of a black man getting beaten by a cop. The caption. "Kendall please! Give him a Pepsi". That echoes why this ad is drawing ire.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Boges

Boges · April 5, 2017

6 minutes ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

That's fine, but many other advertisers were praised for going "social" for Super Bowl ads after Trump became president.

Coca-Cola has one of the greatest television ads ever made based on giving someone a Coke:

You own stock in Coke don't you

bush_cheney2004 · April 5, 2017

1 minute ago, Boges said:

You own stock in Coke don't you

No...I don't, but Warren Buffet sure does.

Wilber · April 5, 2017

It is pretty tone deaf and stupid but it doesn't offend me. People just seem to enjoy being offended and outraged. They go looking for things to be offended about.

Boges · April 5, 2017

1 minute ago, Wilber said:

It is pretty tone deaf and stupid but it doesn't offend me. People just seem to enjoy being offended and outraged. They go looking for things to be offended about.

If you come at it from a Marketing Angle, it's interesting how daft Pepsi is being.

They've come out in defence of the ad.

http://fortune.com/2017/04/05/pepsi-kendall-jenner-ad/

BubberMiley · April 5, 2017

22 minutes ago, Boges said:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/pepsi-ad-kendall-jenner-echoes-black-lives-matter-sparks-anger-n742811

This is not coming from the Right. People are outraged because of the cultural appropriation depicted. The white washing of a political movement.

In the cite above there's a Tweet of a black man getting beaten by a cop. The caption. "Kendall please! Give him a Pepsi". That echoes why this ad is drawing ire.

Cultural appropriation? Are you serious?

Boges · April 5, 2017

1 minute ago, BubberMiley said:

Cultural appropriation? Are you serious?

Did you read the link? It's not me saying it.

bush_cheney2004 · April 5, 2017

46 minutes ago, Boges said:

If you come at it from a Marketing Angle, it's interesting how daft Pepsi is being.

They've come out in defence of the ad.

Good for PepsiCo....the ad is fine and consistent with previous "social cause" advertising.

What's so special about this one ?

Boges · April 5, 2017

Just now, bush_cheney2004 said:

Good for PepsiCo....the ad is fine and consistent with previous "social cause" advertising.

What's so special about this one ?

Social Media doesn't like it.

Boges · April 5, 2017

https://twitter.com/Ethan_Anderton/status/849386668662677505/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breakingnews.ie%2Fentertainment%2Fthese-hilarious-gifs-summarise-the-reactions-to-kendall-jenners-pepsi-ad-784561.html

bush_cheney2004 · April 5, 2017

"My old friend Coke"

bush_cheney2004 · April 5, 2017

PepsiCo pulls the ad....that was fun !!

BubberMiley · April 5, 2017

1 hour ago, Boges said:

Did you read the link? It's not me saying it.

I did, but I didn't see any reference to cultural appropriation. There were a few people quoted who seemed to feel that they are the authority on whether a company can refer to peaceful protest in their advertising, but I wouldn't take them too seriously. I think they were just sending out the message that we may be divided politically but we can all enjoy a delicious beverage that contains either processed sugar or chemical sweeteners.

Boges · April 5, 2017

2 minutes ago, BubberMiley said:

I did, but I didn't see any reference to cultural appropriation. There were a few people quoted who seemed to feel that they are the authority on whether a company can refer to peaceful protest in their advertising, but I wouldn't take them too seriously. I think they were just sending out the message that we may be divided politically but we can all enjoy a delicious beverage that contains either processed sugar or chemical sweeteners.

I think the reference to the cop at the end clearly refers to the BLM movement. So to have a white woman doing the bridge building seems insensitive. The memes surrounding making fun of the idea that Pepsi can be a vehicle for social change.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Boges

Bonam · April 5, 2017

3 hours ago, Boges said:

Here's an explanation of why this ad is controversial.

And it's not coming from the Alt-Right crowd.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/kendall-jenner-pepsi-advert-backlash-police-officer-model-can-protest-a7667251.html

Again I'll say I'm not offended, just want to have a discussion about why the ad is so stupid.

Blah blah privilege, blah blah racism, blah blah resistance. Aren't people over this crap yet? STFU and get back to work.

Argus · April 5, 2017

4 hours ago, Boges said:

The commercial is being criticised by people who have interpreted it as a co-opt of the resistance movement whilst featuring a privileged, white, famous young model using a drink sold by a massive conglomerate to create peace between activists and law enforcement.

I'm sorry, but the protests against this ad strike me as similar to the crying snowflakes who were wringing their hands in anguish because a professor at Harvard mocked their protests about Halloween costumes being cultural appropriation. All the people who are harping on this need an abrupt confrontation with life's realities so they can understand how utterly unimportant this sort of thing is.

hot enough · April 5, 2017

41 minutes ago, Argus said:

I'm sorry, but the protests against this ad strike me as similar to the crying snowflakes who were wringing their hands in anguish because a professor at Harvard mocked their protests about Halloween costumes being cultural appropriation. All the people who are harping on this need an abrupt confrontation with life's realities so they can understand how utterly unimportant this sort of thing is.

What would a halloween costume look like that depicts western war criminals?

Argus · April 5, 2017

1 minute ago, hot enough said:

What would a halloween costume look like that depicts western war criminals?

Goofy.

hot enough · April 5, 2017

8 minutes ago, Argus said:

Goofy.

That's a given! I think most folks would say Hitler was rather goofy.

What I meant was how to describe such a large group in one costume. How do you illustrate, Blair, Bush, Cheney, Nixon, ... Reagan, ... in one fell swoop.

Boges · April 5, 2017

http://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1010/news/watch-update-pepsi-pulls-controversial-kendall-jenner-ad-1.2520353

Annnnnnd it's been pulled.

Quote

Pepsi on Wednesday pulled an ad after it was widely mocked and criticized for appearing to trivialize protests for social justice causes.

``Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding,'' the company said. ``Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize.''

It said it was ``removing the content and halting any further rollout.''

The ad shows Kendall Jenner, a member of the ``Keeping Up With the Kardashians'' reality TV family, stepping away from a modeling shoot to join a crowd of smiling, young protesters.

The protesters cheer after Jenner hands a can of Pepsi to a police officer, who takes a sip.

PepsiCo Inc. had previously said the ad was created by its in-house team and that it would ``be seen globally across TV and digital'' platforms.

GostHacked · April 5, 2017

7 hours ago, BubberMiley said:

I can't keep up with you PC-mongers. What's offensive about this? The fact that there are protesters or a policeman drinking a pepsi? I'm completely at a loss as to why this would upset you.

It's political in nature from what I can see. Not what a soda should be putting in their promos.

Trying to mimic an old iconic photo of the hippies putting flowers in the end of police/soldiers guns. Or hinting at Pepsi=peace ..riiiiiight.

BubberMiley · April 6, 2017

2 hours ago, GostHacked said:

It's political in nature from what I can see. Not what a soda should be putting in their promos.

Trying to mimic an old iconic photo of the hippies putting flowers in the end of police/soldiers guns. Or hinting at Pepsi=peace ..riiiiiight.

Actually it's more anti-political and seems to be preaching the same message as Coke's " I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony", which MadMen declared to be the best ad ever.

Edited April 6, 2017 by BubberMiley

Hal 9000 · April 6, 2017

Is that really what "civil disobedience" looks like? I mean really, I didn't see any lefties screaming profanities, pepper spraying old folks or smashing windows at all, what gives?

August1991 · April 6, 2017

17 hours ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

Nevertheless, an American soft drink manufacturer is getting lots of publicity, good or bad....free!

Literally....American pop culture !

Precisely my opinion.

tl;dr? In this case, tl;dw. (too long, didn't watch)

=====

Like fins on cars in 1950 or hooped skirts in 1850, I would expect more of this in the near future - and then not at all. What marketing/PR people refer to as "going viral", engineers describe as the S/N or sound to noise ratio.

Most life forms are good at filtering: we seek food and mates, and quickly learn which signals indicate neither accurately.

Edited April 6, 2017 by August1991