Why That Catastrophic Pepsi Ad Was Actually a Resounding Success. Free Essay

The article explains why Pepsi has opted to remove or delete its Kendall Jenner advertisement and apologized for that matter. According to their explanation, the company wanted to send a message of unity, peace, and understanding worldwide and did not mean any harm. However, Pepsi agreed that it made a mistake in the ad and apologized to the public. Pepsi is a beverage company that has succeeded over the years. However, the reckless advertisements have landed it in trouble at least for the short term. Any advertisement should be sensitive in the way it presents its objectives. According to D'Addario, Pepsi has created a wild success but the product would probably suffer from helpless advertisements, which would lead to loss of jobs and the company's reputation. The article on why that catastrophic Pepsi ad was actually a resounding success" explains the ads from Pepsi Company that caused public hunger, the reactions from the public, and why it was deleted from the social media platforms.

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The ad was highly ridiculed and termed as fake based on its symbolism and imagery. Pepsi's ad was aimed at capitalizing on the energy of the growing protests across the country. There were multiple protest movements by the time the ad was created. Even though the ad creates a critical role in the political movement, it leaves non-partisan consumers in an awkward position. Even the political class or movements lambasted the ad, meaning it eventually created a negative or bad image for the company.

The ad by the Pepsi Company can be interpreted using two major issues. First, the company takes advantage of the current political movements and tensions within the US. There have been multiple anti-trump movements that engage in protests. Therefore, the Pepsi Company wants them to identify themselves with the brand and purchase it more compared to the competing brands. Second, the ad takes advantage of happenings in daily life to capitalize on them. Therefore, the ad can also be interpreted using the capitalist point of view because it takes advantage and opportunities in the surroundings to win the heart of consumers, thereby outdoing the competitors.

The social media users questioned the objective of the Pepsi commercial based on various issues. Even though, just like any other company, Pepsi aimed at promoting their product. But people were hungered by their use of issues that were being battled. The inclusion of Kendall Jenner, use of the soda to bring world peace; all questionable issues. The content of the commercial was perceived to be vague. Even though Pepsi, to some extent, succeeded in connecting with internet users, it lacked persuasive ethos through the role of Kendall Jenner in the Ad, hence, becoming ineffective.

The company ad focused on protest to create emotional appeal from the public. The protest from the ad goes hand in hand with the ones that happen regularly in the current government with the citizens. Other protests experienced in daily lives within the country include women's rights, gun violence, immigration reforms, police brutality, and the Black Lives Movement (Nicholson 4). Therefore, Pepsi is trying to indicate that they understand what their audience is going through, hence, consoling with them. Connection with the audience is one of the best things a company can do because it creates a positive relationship with the public.

The whole downfall of the ad is caused by the ethos of Kendall Jenner. Her roles lack any originality. From the ad, people would wonder whether Kendall knows about anything concerning fighting the rights of the people. She had to remove the wigs, meddling a photo shoot as the protest continued. This situation indicates that she is out of the lives of normal people. She has to modify herself to fit with the protestors, yet she becomes the de facto leader. This kind of ethos from Kendal created a lot of turbulence in the objective of the commercial d by the Pepsi Company (Nicholson 4).

The other point of criticism is seen when a police officer takes a can of Pepsi soda and the protest ends. People perceived it as undermining because there is no way that Pepsi could solve the serious issues that people face in daily lives which makes the protest. Therefore, the public assumed that the company was trying to ridicule or criticize them through such a commercial ad. However, probably, the company might have meant that Pepsi creates something that brings people together despite experiencing various issues. Its objective focused on the message of togetherness but the content used looked fake and hilarious based on serious issues affecting the people.

Overall, the commercial ad was successful at the initial stage because it performed well in connecting with people. It created a good connection with people by indicating a peaceful protest. However, the issue of ethos in the ad through the inclusion of Kendall Jenner endangered the viewers, hence, resulting in the downfall. Even though the inclusion of the character aimed at including a large number of audience, unfortunately, they did not approve the ad. The Kendall Jenner brand is different from advocating people's rights. Pepsi tried to use the ad for the creation of world peace but people perceived at as ridiculous because of the ethos. Therefore, the fall of the Pepsi ad means that companies should be very cautious and sensitive when creating their commercials because they can easily be misinterpreted, leading to a 'disaster'.

Work Cited

D'Addario, Daniel. "Why the Kendall Jenner Pepsi Ad Was Such a Glaring Misstep." (2017).

Nicholson, R. "From Coke's flower power to Kendall Jenner's Pepsi ad-How ads co-opt protest." The Guardian (2017).