Social Media Reaction to the New Pepsi Ad

Posted on by Wenqian Zhu

On Tuesday, April 4th evening, the Pepsi launched a new commerical on Youtube, which draw many controversial commends. The commercial appears to draw inspiration from the countless marches and protests that have taken place recently, with one of the most popular celebrity, Kendall Jenner as the main figure, who handing a police office a can of Pepsi to solve the social issue.

Whether or not this commercial is “offensive” is up for debate, but it’s certainly one of the most cynical ads that has ever appeared on Internet.

Twitter and other social media platform have used the hashtag #KendallJennerpepsi frequently to discuss the topic. Some people really get mad about the message in the commercial, and some other think there is nothing wrong with it. Some of the social media users also think that the commercial is actually a successful move to draw attention. Some even think that the crowd should not focus on this meaningless argument, but more focus on the real major issue happen in our world. Some tones are very mad, and some are using humor to laugh about that.

It’s interesting that how one hashtag can involve so many different thought on it.

4 thoughts on “Social Media Reaction to the New Pepsi Ad”

  1. I found this post particularly interesting because most of the interaction I’ve read online surrounding this topic has been in disagreement with Pepsi and their marketing choices. I think what’s great about social media is that it gives us access to rivaling perspectives if we seek them out. This reminds me of the conversation we had with Professor Grygiel in class about the social bubbles we often find ourselves in. For this particular topic, I didn’t find myself seeking out differing opinions but it’s interesting to see that they are almost always available if searched for.

  2. With some much happening in the world recently and a lot of major companies coming in and out of the spotlight due to their miscalculated approaches on these subjects, I’m glad you decided to share an opinion about it. The best part of this analysis is that you give different viewpoints on the subject. Like, Christy mentioned, a lot of what has been viewed has been in disdain for Pepsi, but it is important to note that some people didn’t find much wrong with the ad (take that as you will). The bigger picture for me is that the conversation is being had around the subject in the first place.

  3. I think this was a great topic, and definitely very timely. I think it’s interesting to see some non-negative remarks about the commercial, especially since the overwhelming majority were so negative. I do agree with the viewpoint presented by one of the tweeters that there are more important things going on in the world than a Pepsi ad, but I also think that this debacle has brought some really important issues for advertisers to light.

  4. This post was an interesting read because you highlighted some of the positives the campaign did for Pepsi. This is a current news story that shows how social media can give us access to perspectives and viewpoints that differ from each other and it is up to us which perspective we agree with. Since I’m an advertising student, I didn’t find seek out positive opinions about the Pepsi ad, but I’m glad I could find them to learn about the issue further.

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