Kendall Jenner in the Pepsi ad

The Worst Thing You’ll See Today: Pepsi Couldn’t Have Created a More Tone-Deaf Ad If We Dared Them

This article is over 7 years old and may contain outdated information

Recommended Videos

It’s been 46 years since Coca-Cola tried to unite humanity with their “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” campaign, and in all that time, they could never do what Pepsi has now accomplished with their latest ad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen people of all walks agree so strongly, but here we are, united as humans in our strong certainty that this is most definitely the worst ad ever created.

Behold:

Oh my gosh, this commercial has everything. EVERYTHING.

It has general “protest” as a super fun, sellable, street fair/block party-style commodity. SO HIP AND CASUAL AND WOKE! WE KNOW WHAT THE YOUTHS WANT!

It clearly means to invoke images of actual protest, but mass-manufactured and siphoned into its least challenging possible form. (i.e. The Kendall Jenner Form.)

Because REVOLUTION! PEPSI! CHANGE!

Thanks, Pepsi, for finally teaching us how revolution works.

It manages to sell protest as a fun cool product, but also be centered around a message, it seems, of Blue Lives Matter?

Overall, appropriating protest for corporate sales isn’t going to go over well. I think a lot of us could have told Pepsi that, but alas, no one ever asked.

I’m sure they have our best interests at heart, though, right? Given all that wokeness?

But, again, at the very least, it did bring a lot of us together. You know, in our hatred of it.

And then, one of the very worst parts in a long parade of worst parts:

Oh, hey, bonus gift! Did you think this couldn’t be any worse? Well, surprise! Here’s the full-length version.

I’m sorry and you’re welcome.

(image: screengrab)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google+.


The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.