Racism Ending Carbonation? It's Less Likely Than You'd Think
- Daniella Richardson
- Mar 20
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 9
Oftentimes, while fending off microaggressions and fatal realities of systemic racism that keep me awake at night, all I can think is: “Dang, where is Kendall Jenner with a cold Pepsi when you need her?”
Would Kendall Jenner with a Pepsi in hand save me or nah?
Now Daniella...of course she would
Girl be for real
No, but I loved her outfit
I'm just here for the PR analysis
In all sincerity, I do sit and wonder, what other ideas were thrown out in that marketing meeting and, for the life of me, who greenlighted that infamous ad as their best concept out of them all?
If you’re unfamiliar with what I’m referencing, let me set the scene for you.
It’s 2017. We’re knee deep in racial upheaval (shocker). Particularly fed up with police brutality and America’s lack of correction and empathy, protesters have been taking to the streets, and the public is in an overall state of general unease.
Naturally, as corporations do, when emotions are high, they race to convince the masses that their specific product/service holds the solution to their mounting anxieties and increasing dissatisfaction with the state of the world.
Enter PepsiCo— Attempting “to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding,” the multinational food and beverage corporation had supermodel and reality television star, Kendall Jenner, shucking off the chains of the fickle industry to stand on equal grounds with the everyman of America.
The "Live for Now – Moments” campaign ad depicted Jenner joining a protest with generic signage like “join the conversation,” peace signs, and the classic all encompassing “love.” After donning her best casual social justice warrior look, Jenner finds herself at the front lines of the protest, face to face with policemen.
Taking a closer look, we had a few key events occur the year previous to this ad, in 2016; Notably, on July 5th and 6th, two Black men were gunned down by the police. You may remember their names, or at least I hope you do. I have never been able to forget. Their names were Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
In the aftermath of these murders, St. Paul and Baton Rouge, the home towns of both men, were in uproar. They participated in mass (mostly) peaceful civil disobedience that was met with not so peaceful action from law enforcement.
Now going back to the ad — Jenner hands a police officer an ice cold Pepsi, and he accepts it, drinks it, and smiles at his fellow officer. Everyone cheers, the war is won, and at last we have peace and unity.
If only it were that simple.
The specific image we want to look at when considering the wayward Pepsi ad is Ieshia Evans, Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge, maintaining the frontlines of a Black Lives Matter protest.
While Jenner was met with an open mind and sharing of a beverage, Evans was rushed towards and carted roughly to the back of a police car. For standing.
“They took our possessions and fingerprinted us. Then they stuck four of us women in a room together and had four officers strip-search us. We were all ordered to take off everything, to bend over, and to cough. There was no privacy, no dignity. We were treated as if we were murderers or child molesters. It was degrading. It angered me. These were black female officers, and they were treating us as if we were criminals.”
— Ieshia Evans, for The Guardian
Pepsi didn’t just miss the mark, they simply never had it in their sights.
It was a shallow attempt to appeal to the genuine concerns of marginalized groups holding good reason to fear for their life on a day to day basis.
The reality that keeps Black Americans up at night, that follows them around every aisle of the grocery store, and makes simple things like sending their children to school a feat of bravery, became a cheap campaign to sell soda.
Even more so, Pepsi tried to position themselves in the public as an organization who cares, without doing any of the real work to back it up. We don’t even have to mention that everyone on this creative team was white. We don’t have to, but I will.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into the PR of it all.
"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."
“We apologize.”
This sentence right here goes a long way. Most companies find themselves on the outs with consumers by simply refusing to take accountability and admit that they were wrong.
"Pepsi was trying to…”
Offering an explanation of your intentions can never go to waste. Will it be believed? Not always. But is it best practice to have your intent on record when a messaging goes sideways? Absolutely.
THE GOOD
THE BAD
“We did not intend to make light of any serious issue.”
It’s broad and covers all their bases, I’ll give them that. But when I am unable to see that you know specifically what you did wrong and why it was so bruising to the relationship with the public, I question the sincerity.
No position communicated.
Does PepsiCo believe that Black Lives Matter? Who Knows ¯\(ツ)/¯
I know they care about how Kendall Jenner is perceived
WWDD
What Would Daniella Do?
Well for starters, I would have never let this concept see the light of day — I also would have thrown a few nonwhite people on my marketing team for the perspective — but alas we’re working with hypotheticals here. If I personally backed myself into a corner this tight, I would do a couple of different things for some very important reasons.
The people want to trust that Pepsi is informed of current events and they want to know, especially in light of bad optics, where they stand with issues like these. Big corporations tend to keep their stances as neutral as possible in efforts to make themselves accessible to all but more often than not, I oppose this strategy. In fact, it can do the exact opposite and alienate you from your target audiences.
The publics that make or break your organization don’t want to see vague acknowledgement: they want to see your conviction. This is when social responsibility needs to be prioritized. Pepsi had an unfounded window of opportunity to champion a large segment of the public, and they utterly biffed it.
And as true as it is awful, in a capitalistic world like ours, this would have been a susbtantially profitable move for Pepsi. Social responsibility in PR is a double edged sword in that a part of it will always be rooted in self interest; the company takes a stance because, hopefully, they believe in what they’re saying. But they also do so because their belief in the particular concept or idea sparks loyalty and trust between the brand and their key publics.
People want to give their money and attention to something they feel good about supporting. Personally for me, if you apologize for making a bad advertisement that essentially mocks a crucial and present civil rights movement, but in the same breath you choose to not make it clear that your organization condemns police brutality and supports Black people…it gives me pause.
All this to say, here is a mock up of the statement I would have pitched for this crisis communication, including a much needed call to action to preserve the company’s reputation in light of this major misstep:
“Pepsi attempted to cultivate unity, peace and understanding with our most recent ad, but unfortunately we underserved an issue that cannot be simplified or expressed within the time frame we allotted. We greatly apologize for this, and pledge to do better going forward. We are removing the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.
We have outlined ways here we plan to uplift vulnerable communities, and we hope you all will join us in our efforts. Black Lives Matter, and Pepsi will always stand with the Black Community.”
Daniella Richardson, (Hypothetically for Pepsi if they favored resilient PR)
Now Kendall Jenner’s response/apology (or lack thereof) is a whole other article for a whole other day. But simply put, when it comes to a fiasco like this one, the best start to your crisis strategy is to be empathetic, be honest, and plan to be better. Your key publics know that you’re human. They just want to also know that you care.
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