Kendall Jenner’s Controversial Pepsi Ad Gets Recreated by Protester

One protester provided a small moment of levity in the midst of the national protests by recreating the controversial Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial in an amusing photo posted online. In 2017, Jenner came under fire when she appeared in the video ad, which depicted her ending a heated protest by gifting a policeman with a can of Pepsi. Now, a protester has been photographed attempting Jenner’s tactic from the commercial by offering a soda to an officer in riot gear, but it doesn’t seem to be eliciting the same results. The image has since gone viral, and you can take a look at the photo in the tweet below.

I can’t believe someone actually did it. pic.twitter.com/GgNe3Ftbnr

— Bravo Lima Mike (@PeaDeeKay) June 4, 2020

In the original short film style advertisement, dubbed “Live for Now,” the song “Lions” by Skip Marley plays as similar protests are happening on the streets. Despite the tension in the air, Jenner is shown looking rather carefree as she walks away from a modeling gig and straight towards the protest. She directly hands a 12-ounce can of Pepsi to a police officer, and despite his initial confusion, the cop is all too happy to crack it open and start chugging the sugary drink. Every single protester responds with laughter and applause, as this single can of Pepsi has seemingly brought an end to the protests with the police and the protesters embracing their mutual love for the name brand soda.

As you might expect, the ad was not met with a very warm reception when it was aired. With widespread criticism referring to the commercial as tone deaf, Pepsi pulled the ad after just one day, offering an apology in a statement released soon after. “Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize,” Pepsi reps said in the statement, providing an additional apology to Jenner as well for putting her in that position. The commercial was later mocked in a segment on Saturday Night Live with Beck Bennett portraying the writer-director of the ad.

It might be a tasty beverage, but bringing Pepsi into the protests has done very little to ease the real-life tensions seen on the streets in recent days. After video footage of the disturbing killing of George Floyd went viral, worldwide protests were soon to follow with angry protesters around the planet calling for the four ex-officers involved to be held accountable. As Floyd’s death is just among the latest of many similar police killings of unarmed Black men and women, protesters supporting the Black Lives Matter movement are also calling for justice for Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, and everyone else who’s needlessly lost their lives at the hands of police officers.

Jenner’s brother-in-law is taking a very different approach with his efforts to help amid the recent protests, as Kanye West. This week, West revealed that he is donating $2 million to help cover the legal fees for the families of Floyd, Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Additionally, West will cover college tuition for Gianna Floyd, George Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter, and is financially helping Black-owned businesses in Chicago. Something tells me this will all be much more beneficial to helping the cause than 12 ounces of soda. You can check out the original Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner below. The photo shown above comes to us from @PeaDeeKay on Twitter.