Unless you’ve been sleeping…in the library…without a smart phone (none of which is remotely likely), you’ve probably heard about the failed Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner.
Moving from “fake” (modelling in a blond wig) to “meaningful” (joining in a protest), Jenner’s transformation–her own, the crowd’s and, most importantly, law enforcement’s–is enabled by the magic of Pepsi.
Confused? So were the in-house creative team that conceived of this campaign.
Industry executive Benjamin Blank, quoted in an article in Advertising Week, explains:
“I understand what they were trying to do: They had data that probably said 75% of millennials consider themselves activists, or whatever that data piece was, so we are going to embrace the idea of activism,” [But Pepsi misfired by taking a] “very broad-stroke approach as opposed to standing for something. It’s like standing for love or happiness, that’s not really a stance.”
If Kendall Jenner actually did something that was meaningful and they documented that and supported that, that would probably be something that would make more sense for the brand as opposed to paying her whatever they paid her to appear in a scripted piece of content that was not based in any true meaning.”
http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/pepsi-pulling-widely-mocked-kendall-jenner-ad/308575/
Adding insult to injury, Martin Luther King’s daughter noted that the ad was released on the 49th anniversary of her father’s assassination.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Daughter Slams Pepsi Protest Ad in One Tweet
The result? The ad was pulled, Pepsi was mocked, and everyone’s talking about it. What’s your assessment: Win? Fail?
campaignforrealbranding 
I most definitely think this ad campaign failed. I am all in support of making powerful advertisements that try to express real world issues, but this was just insulting. I realize that they used Kendall Jenner because of her popularity and fame, but they used a girl who is extremely privileged and wealthy and someone who doesn’t experience any of the issues they were trying to portray in the ad. It was not only was offensive, but also a ridiculous message that a Pepsi is the solution to police brutality and racism is the world and that a drink would bring people together. Pepsi definitely screwed up releasing and ad like this especially with the current situations happening in the world.
I hope this comment finds you well. I remember scrolling on Instagram and Facebook where I found many posts regarding the people’s disagreement towards this ad campaign. That was also a reason why I started to look it up and got an opportunity to see provide myself more context about the ad. I also agree that this is a failed ad campaign for many reasons. First of all, from your post, you already mentioned the main reasoning for the disagreement from the audience, specifically how the ad campaign demonstrated a “broad-stroke” perception towards racism of Pepsi. However, I also wonder whether the choice of main character/influencer for this ad campaign is also one of the contributing factors for the disagreement. Based on my knowledge, Kendall Jenner is known for being a “nepo baby” or a “spoiled kid” due to her background of being one of the Kardashian family members. As well, she is also known for not “being vocalized enough” regarding her standing towards various social issues. This collaboration between Kendall Jenner and Pepsi might not align with people’s perception as the audience has a different perception of Kendall and see her as not the right fit.