An unsuccessful commonplace that the advertisers at Pepsi attempted to pursue in the Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial was the tension between the police and the public in America in 2017. During this time, more people were speaking out against police brutality, specifically relating to police brutality used against black people in America. Law enforcement began to be viewed as a negative force in the eyes of many Americans, especially amongst minorities. This commonplace was addressed in the Pepsi commercial, which showed Kendall Jenner, a popular celebrity, handing a police officer at a protest a Pepsi. The result is an instant change in the officer’s mood from indignant to content, while all of the protesters are shown as being happy and celebratory. The Pepsi advertisers attempted to address the commonplace that was gaining a lot of traction at the time by associating their brand with creating change and making peace. However, what they failed to do is read the room, as much of the American audience that aligned with the commonplace that the police were bad disliked the commercial and its message. Many believed that the commercial was performative, and just wanted to associate Pepsi with taking a stand, which they had made no effort to do. Others found the ad distasteful, as it portrayed the police in a positive light in a time where they were not viewed as such by many. Additionally, the commercial was seen to have glossed over a major issue in American society at the time, portraying everyone as happy when in reality, the protests were ending in arrests and police violence. In their effort to remain socially relevant, Pepsi failed to realize that the ad was twisting a serious situation into a inspirational ad that seemed to place the police in a good light, which was disagreeable to many who aligned with the commonplace that the police could not be trusted due to increased attention towards instances of police brutality. By making it seem as if a single can of Pepsi could solve some of the countries’ most complicated systemic dilemmas, the advertisers diminished the complexity of the issue at hand, especially angering those against police brutality. Though commonplaces can often be used by advertisers by associating their brand with a collective emotion about a topic, Pepsi was unable to do so successfully as their advertisers did not address the severity of the issue properly.

Works Cited

Brannon. “Case Study: PepsiCo & Kendall Jenner’s Controversial Commercial.” Astute, 21 Feb. 2020, https://astute.co/pepsi-kendall-jenner-commercial/.

“Pepsi Kendall Jenner so Controversial Commercial.” YouTube, 23 July 2018, https://youtu.be/tJCcnkqnjqU.