Pepsi pulls Kendall Jenner ad one day after debut
LOS ANGELES — Pepsi has pulled an ad featuring Kendall Jenner a day after it debuted.
The ad, which depicted the model joining a march and handing a can of Pepsi to a police officer, incited the wrath of the Twitterverse, with many calling it tone-deaf and disrespectful to movements like #BlackLivesMatter.
The beverage maker issued this statement on Tuesday morning, apologizing for the ad, which has been pulled from YouTube.
“Pepsi was trying to project 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 pulling the content and halting any further roll-out. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”
Jenner has yet to respond to the controversy.
She was the first model since Cindy Crawford in 1992 to have her own global Pepsi campaign.
Marlow Stern, a senior entertainment editor for The Daily Beast, posted the Pepsi statement to his Twitter.