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TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA – 2015/03/29: Pepsi Cola King Can on Store Shelf; Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo. and distributed all over the world. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images
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Pepsi severely misses mark with new ad

Kendall Jenner stars in one of the least woke commercials of all time

Clinton Yates @clintonyates
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All Day Pepsi Kendall Jenner

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    1:44 PMIeshia Evans certainly didn’t stand for this. On Tuesday afternoon, Pepsi released a new ad starring Kendall Jenner that features her as a model-turned-activist who wins over the heart of a riot officer simply by giving him a can of soda. The think pieces have all been written, and the problem is obvious: Co-opting an actual movement that kills actual black people with a ham-handed attempt to sell soda is insulting.

    There’s also the larger issue of, how on earth did this see the light of day? But we all know that the world of advertising isn’t exactly chock-full of black folks making decisions when it comes to imagery. Just look at some of these headlines.

    “What the Hell Is This New Pepsi Ad” (Eater)

    “Kendall Jenner discovers the true joy of Pepsi comes from ripping off protest movements” (Fusion)

    “This Pepsi Spot Is A Frontrunner For Most Tone-Deaf Ad Of 2017” (Digg)

    Of course, there are a lot of serious matters to be discussed on this. First off, why are there free sodas at a protest? Secondly, what are they protesting? Third, why is Kendall throwing wigs at black women? And, most importantly, why are people playing cellos?

    For now, we’ll stick with the funniest tweets.

    https://twitter.com/juliacraven/status/849406756333772801

    Do better, Pepsi. Oh, and shout-out to Alfonso Ribeiro.

    Clinton Yates is a tastemaker at Andscape. He likes rap, rock, reggae, R&B and remixes — in that order.