Pepsi Swings and Misses — Big Time
But Appropriate Apology Shows Heart Was in the Right Place
Did you hear a whooshing sound in early April? Was it something so quick that it “made your head spin,” as the saying goes? Well, I am here to tell you that you are not alone. What you, and all of us, heard was the sound of Pepsi pulling its incredibly ill-advised (I am avoiding writing “tone-deaf,” as never in my life have I seen that term more than when I was reading stories about this debacle) new “Live Bolder” ad starring Kendall Jenner. As an aside, if you don’t know who Jenner is, she is a member of the Kardashian clan, so there’s that — but this ad has way more going wrong with it than merely featuring a second-rate celebrity with third-rate quality-subject-material detection skills.
Let’s Break It Down
If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend that you take a look — at least so you can view a commercial that seeks to do the right thing yet seems to do all the wrong things. The video features a hipster cellist; a diverse group of protestors (who all, mysteriously, seem to be really happy to be protesting) carrying thought-provoking (that’s sarcasm) signs that say things like “Join the conversation”; plenty of attractive-looking people (enter Jenner); oblivious alfresco diners (if they weren’t enjoying their Pepsi so much, they could merely look toward the street to see that there is a protest going on!); an onlooker giving what looks to be the hand sign for the devil’s horns or Hook ’em Horns (I can never keep those straight); a frustrated photographer who feels a chance for her Pulitzer is at hand; an impromptu band-dance combo; Jenner’s decision that she must join this movement (sans wig and lipstick, of course); the understanding that Pepsi unites us all (except those of us who barely partake of soft drinks, unless, of course, they are mixing with our friends gin, vodka, or whiskey); a line of riot police who don’t look like they are sporting riot gear, and, let’s be perfectly honest here, all look to be attractive as well; the “policeman” who accepts the Pepsi from Jenner (huzzah! all problems solved!); and an exorbitant amount of cheering (wow, that high-fructose corn syrup must really do the trick!).
Pepsi recognized its mistake and did the right thing by pulling the ad.
Of course, the internet, which never forgets and pulls no punches, responded. Twitter had references to Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Tiananmen Square, and Martin Luther King Jr. (including a post from Bernice King, MLK’s daughter). As Meghan Britton-Gross, Britton Marketing & Design Group’s vice president of online brand buzz, wrote in a 2016 blog post, “Social media is a megaphone to the masses, and word travels even faster. Thanks to social media, on a good day bad customer-experience stories reach twice as many people. On a bad day, the news goes viral.”
Ouch. Pepsi got tagged, and not just in the social media way, but in the “I may be bleeding” way. Pepsi also tweeted: “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.”
OK, fair enough. Pepsi recognized its mistake (or responded to all the negative publicity) and did the right thing by pulling the ad. But how did it reach this point to begin with?
What Went Wrong?
In Kristina Monllos’s Adweek story, Feminista Jones, writer, social worker, and activist, said, “Pepsi should have consulted people who have actually been on the front lines of protests these recent years. … Brands should never make light of social issues related to people’s suffering; they should, instead, focus on selling their products in ways that don’t exploit the pain and suffering of marginalized people.”
“Many were put off by what they saw as an ‘exploitative brand social activism’ for the sake of capitalism.”
Creators League Studio, Pepsi’s in-house content agency, created the ad, and in the opinion of some industry insiders, this is where the problem started. In a LinkedIn post, “How to Make Millennials Hate You, the Pepsi Way,” Eric Thomas, senior partner at Saga MKTG, wrote, “This is what happens when you don’t have enough people in leadership that reflect the cultures that you represent. Somewhere in the upper levels where this commercial was approved, one of two things happened. Either there was not enough diversity — race, gender, lifestyle, age, or otherwise — or worse, there was a culture that made people uncomfortable to express how offensive this video is. Unfortunately for Pepsi, millennials have hyper-advanced B.S. detectors and they went off very quickly.”
With that in mind, what did some millennials at Britton Marketing & Design Group think about the ad? Danielle Hartmann, senior digital graphic designer, said, “While I liked the initial direction of diversity, movement, and music, which seemed powerful, after the focus moved to Kendall Jenner, the ad seemed forced, cliché, and unrealistic. Had it been an unknown person of a different race — to emphasize the message — handing the Pepsi to the officer, the statement might have been stronger. It just seemed like another way for a Kardashian to make money without really doing anything,”
Here’s what Molly Stronczek, art director, had to say: “Over the past few years we have definitely seen a rise in public protest with the Black Lives Matter movement, women’s rights, and LGBTQ rights, among many other important causes, but where millennials see this as standing up for their rights and beliefs and working toward change, it felt that Pepsi saw this as a trend to capitalize on with their marketing dollars. By suggesting that Kendall Jenner could solve a problem as serious as racism or discrimination in America just by taking off her wig and handing a police officer a Pepsi was really devaluing the act of protest and conversation. Protest isn’t a trend. It’s a vehicle for conversation and change. I appreciate that Pepsi was intending to convey a message of unity and hope, I just feel that they did not do it in a responsible way. They took something raw and emotional and made it sexy and marketable.”
Stronczek’s observation hits on two key points: the use of Jenner and Pepsi’s almost cavalier attitude toward these serious causes. Monllos wrote, “Many take issue with the use of Jenner, with the brand casting a rich, cis, able-bodied white woman as the hero of the people, as well as the way that it portrays protest as an upbeat social outing.”
She added that “many were put off by what they saw as an ‘exploitative brand social activism’ for the sake of capitalism.”
It didn’t help Pepsi’s cause that the ad was compared to the 2016 Reuters photo of protestor Ieshia Evans in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In regard to the Evans photo, Elle Hearns, the executive director of the Marsha P. Johnson Institute and formerly an organizer for Black Lives Matter, told the New York Times, “It has no relationship to the courage that that woman [Evans] showed. That woman standing in the middle of the street was not trying to be a peacemaker with the police. She was being defiant. She was actually resisting.”
What Can Pepsi Learn?
So it’s been established that Pepsi made a mistake. Everyone has taken their shots, including me, with this blog. But here’s the thing. Pepsi knows it made a mistake. The company immediately apologized and pulled the ad. So is everyone being too harsh? Perhaps. After all, we live in the age of snark, everything is to be judged, made fun of, and discarded at a whim. Why? There is safety in this kind of thinking. It is much easier to stand on the side and mock instead of testing your own thoughts, ideas, and creations.
Yes, Pepsi stumbled in its choice of spokesperson. Yes, the ad didn’t consider the movements it purported to bring light. But, in the end, it was merely a swing and a miss.
Here’s something to keep in mind: “Brands are not humans, but humans run them. Humans make mistakes; ergo, brands make mistakes. It’s how we learn and progress.” It comes from a 2014 Britton Blog post by Nic Hulting, director of online content strategy.
Hulting added, “If we receive negative feedback, do we respond to it? Do we consider the negative feedback (if valid) a lesson learned and try to change for the better? Herein lies the success or failure of using social media as a communication channel. Are we, the humans behind the company, really treating what’s being said as constructive criticism? And if we are, are we acting upon it?” It appears that Pepsi did.
In USA Today, Charisse Jones and Roger Yu wrote, “Pepsi has always aimed to be a socially conscious company, going back to its ‘Next Generation’ campaign in the 1960s, said Jon Bond, an ad-industry veteran who has worked with Pepsi executives and is cochairman of the Shipyard, a marketing firm.”
“Brands are not humans, but humans run them. Humans make mistakes; ergo, brands make mistakes. It’s how we learn and progress.”
Bond added, “The intent was good. The strategy was good. But execution, they messed up on. Everyone makes mistakes. It [Pepsi] has a long history of doing good work.”
Jarritos Shows How to Make a Good Commercial
Speaking of good work — coincidentally enough, good work from the world of soft drinks — the Mexican soft-drink brand Jarritos released an inspiring commercial, “The Journey,” last fall. (BMDG copywriter Michelle Ochoa elaborated on the ad in her blog “Missing the (Marketed) Target — on Purpose.”) The short film — created by Diego Luna, along with ad agency WALO — focuses on the “journeys and sacrifices of immigrants coming into the United States.”
It’s about dreams, determination, and unity. It’s inspiring and appears to hit the mark in every way. Luis Fernandez, CEO of Novamex, brand owner of Jarritos, said, “Our intention was to thank our consumers and celebrate the beauty of that journey, the sacrifices of previous generations, and the inherent diversity of the United States.” Mission accomplished, Mr. Fernandez.
Photos: Shutterstock
Originally published at www.brittonmdg.com.
