Soda Showdown: Why Pepsi Should Take a Hint From Coca Cola Next Time Around

Just last week, the world was able to savor the idea of cracking open a can of soda on a hot summer’s day. Now, that picture-perfect image doesn’t look quite the same. By now you know that Pepsi’s insensitive, tone deaf, and racially-charged advertisement starring Kendall Jenner was pulled from the Internet after receiving harsh criticism by, well, just about every single person in existence.

The drink company’s “short film”, which was removed from YouTube a mere 24 hours after its release, was filled with inexcusable missteps that attempted (but failed) to focus on Black Lives Matter, political protests, and police brutality. Instead, we were left with Pepsi mocking minorities and thinking all of life’s most serious problems can be solved with a soda. The company released a statement before pulling the ad, writing “Pepsi was trying to protect 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.” 

Unfortunately, the damage was already done, and it hurt more than just the reality star. To give the company the benefit of the doubt, though, they were likely trying to mimic their competitor’s most iconic and succesful ever – Coca Cola’s famous “Hilltop” ad from 1971. Just last year, the company mastered the original ad with a more crisp, bright look. The ad features people from all different backgrounds singing “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” on a hilltop in Italy. It’s simple and beautifully executed – mostly due to the message of unity and connectedness between each individual.

Pssstt, Pepsi – take notes before pressing play on the ad video below:

And to sum up our distaste for Pepsi’s incident even more, watch below: