Pepsi apologises to Kendall Jenner for ad backlash and drops the commercial

Pepsi has dumped its new commercial following social media backlash. Kendall Jenner featured in the ad campaign titled Jump In. Courtesy Pepsi

Pepsi has announced it has dropped an ad featuring model of the moment Kendall Jenner that has created an uproar since its release earlier this week.

The ad, which appeared to use the Black Lives Matter protests to promote the soda brand, provoked an outcry and widespread derision on social media claiming Pepsi was seeking to profit from the social justice movement.

“Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologise,” the Pepsico unit said in a statement.

“We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further roll-out. We also apologise for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”

In the spot, Jenner — half-sister of reality TV star Kim Kardashian — is seen walking through a street protest and handing a can of Pepsi to a police officer, to the cheers from the crowd.

The star spoke to The National in the lead up to the release of the commercial. Among those mocking the ad was Bernice King, daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, who tweeted: "If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi," with a picture of her father being pushed by a police officer.

Other social media users also found the ads in poor taste. Some said the final scene evoked an image from the Black Lives Matter movement when a female nurse walked up to a line of police officers in Louisiana last year.

“Could you be any more blatant with the disrespect and appropriation of a movement, @pepsi? Is this a sick joke?!” one tweet said.

Another user tweeted: “can’t believe Kendall Jenner just solved institutionalised racism and oppression by giving a cop a pepsi. Groundbreaking.”

*Agence France Press