Kendall Jenner Pepsi Commercial


Whenever I think of some of the worst PR campaigns in recent years, the one that almost immediately comes to mind is Pepsi’s 2017 commercial featuring Kendall Jenner. The ad, which can be seen below, received almost universal backlash, with Pepsi eventually pulling it completely from their own social media pages.
            This commercial demonstrates the delicate nature of brands’ attempts to latch onto new trends and social movements, particularly when it relates to social justice. Many people pointed out parallels between the ad and Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge, a photograph that went viral in 2016. The photo depicts Iesha Evans, a 28-year-old black nurse, being arrested by police officers in riot gear during a Black Lives Matter protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
            Theoretically, creating parallels between a brand and a viral photo has the potential to be popular among the groundswell. In this case, however, the problem was with the specific subject at hand that Pepsi chose to allude to. Many people accused them of appropriating protest language and practices for the purpose of selling sodas. Even Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., chimed in on the matter, with a tweet saying:

            In this situation, Pepsi exhibited two common marketing errors that can oftentimes occur in Internet marketing. Their first mistake was failing to follow the phrase “don’t let your marketing show”, which is a common mantra in advertising about the way in which commercials need to be subtle. Pepsi’s product placement was, in many ways, too glaringly obvious, down to the protesters’ blue signs with a red peace symbol, in a way that is reminiscent of the Pepsi logo.
Pepsi’s second mistake was trying to erase the advertisement from the internet. As we have learned, attempting to remove something online only creates a “Streisand Effect”, which amplifies the thing that you were originally seeking to remove. In Pepsi’s case, it sparked a variety of news articles online about the very fact that they were pulling the commercial. Even Saturday Night Live created a skit about the process behind the creation of the advertisement, resulting in audience laughter aplenty:
After realizing their mistakes, Pepsi ended up sending out an apology statement to people who were offended by the commercials, including Kendall Jenner herself. The communication stated:
“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.”
            Beyond sending out this message, there was not much else that Pepsi could do to remedy the situation, beyond learning from their mistake and swallowing their pride (and money) that had been invested in the commercial. Ironically, it did end up becoming a force for joining everyone together: the ad was so universally hated that it united the entire internet around their dislike of Pepsi. Now that’s what I call “joining the conversation”.
What do you think of Pepsi’s ad? Can you think of any similar advertising fails that have happened recently?

Comments

  1. Lindsay CorcoranOctober 1, 2019 at 6:40 AM

    This was a very good example of a very bad marketing campaign. Pepsi seemed to be trying to listen to the groundswell, but created an advertisement out of it that was extremely inauthentic and it showed. While they tried to tap into a current viral trend, they certainly missed the mark by making light of a very serious social movement. I think you're right that the most they could do was apologize and hopefully learn from their mistake.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SavannahOctober 1, 2019 at 7:11 PM

    I remember discussing this commercial in a sociology class when it came out! I liked your referencing of the Streisand Effect here, and thought it was amusing that the commercial untied people against it. Rather than a commercial that failed I think that Gillette commercial about toxic masculinity did a really good job of Not failing while being about a big issue, and I think it did a much better job of not showing its marketing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. YuxiOctober 1, 2019 at 8:57 PM

    hi Allison,
    I agree with you, this is no good ad even with racism. But on the other hand, it succeeded in reaching people's eyes and triggered a public discussion by social media. To some extent this is a “successful” ad, an increasing number of people know Pepsi .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Allison's Social Media & Marketing BlogOctober 2, 2019 at 12:06 AM

      This is a good point! I hadn't considered that! To an extent, any amount of publicity, good or bad, can be good for increasing brand awareness.

      Delete
  4. Liao (Leo) ZhaoOctober 1, 2019 at 9:06 PM

    I think this ad touches sensitive topics, mainly because the guards in the last. First of all, in this advertisement, the guards seem to stand on the opposite side of the people. Secondly, the ethnic problems in the United States have intensified in recent years, and the polices sometimes play negative role in those incidents. If the guards in this ad joined the parade after drinking soda, it might make a big difference in the meaning of the ad.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Adela's Marketing ConsultantOctober 1, 2019 at 10:12 PM

    Thanks for sharing the negative campaign example. Learning from this Pepsi failure, we could gain the experience that never does we use the sensitive elements for conducting a campaign, especially involved in religion, racism, and political in some countries. Even if you don’t have that meaning in it, something still can’t touch. Just don’t take the risk. Great post!

    ReplyDelete

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