The Inglorious Return of Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi Ad

Everything we can’t stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. [View in Browser]( [Subscribe]( [Image] with Kevin Fallon Everything we can’t stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. This Week: - 2017’s most problematic ad is relevant again. - I May Destroy You is very good. - The Help? Not helping. - Ben & Jerry’s gets it. - LEA MICHELE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Inglorious Return of Kendall Jenner’s Black Lives Matter Pepsi Ad It turns out that Kendall Jenner did not end racism. Bless her heart, [she tried](. She saw them all—the Asian man playing cello on the rooftop, the woman in the hijab snapping photos, the ethnically diverse brunchers sharing a laugh—taking to the streets, marching and having the times of their lives protesting...well, the cause is besides the point. [Black Lives Matter,]( we think? Anyway, look how much fun! [Alternate text]( She may be in the middle of a photo shoot, but the World’s Coolest March is beckoning. She leaves, struts to the front of the pack, and just when it looks like things may get testy as she comes upon a phalanx of stern-faced cops/killjoys, she has an idea. She hands one a can of Pepsi. Police brutality? Antagonistic relationships with law enforcement? It was supposed to be over. The cop accepted the can. He tasted that sweet, sweet corn syrup, coating his throat in its all spicy-bubbled, viscous glory. He smiled. It was a truce! The crowd cheered! Resistance accomplished! [The 2017 ad](—a grotesque bastardization of wokeness, commoditization of political action, and trivialization of the Black Lives Matter movement—made people so angry at the time it was all they could do not to [shit in a wig](. It was so instantly pilloried for its glaring tone-deafness that Pepsi pulled the ad immediately. Jenner apologized on her reality show and the world, it seemed, moved on to the next ridiculous celebrity controversy and brand whose time had come to be canceled. But the ad reannounced itself to the zeitgeist this week like the deafening sound of a soda can lid popping in a quiet library, as both a reminder of how far off mainstream culture is from the reality of protests and the country’s systemic issues and, sure, as a bit of a comedic distraction. People on social media [wondered](, in [jest](, where Jenner and her Pepsi can have been during the nationwide protests and violent face-offs with police. Shouldn’t the events of the last 10 days have been her red-white-and-blue swirled sphere bat signal? [Alternate text] [Alternate text] Protesters began [posting photos and videos of themselves]( trying to offer Pepsi to officers, revealing in practice the utter lunacy of the gesture. They look absolutely insane, marching up to officers in riot gear, menacing mayhem surrounding them, with their arms outstretched with a soda. The images are funny, but also scary. “They hate soda. Fuck the police,” [reads one comment]( on a video of someone attempt to broker peace through beverage. That people are still talking about this three-year-old ad isn’t just because current events have exposed just how nakedly stupid it truly was. It’s because these things—even a Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad from 2017—do matter. There’s the cynicism of a brand noticing the mobilization of anger and demands for social justice, and then instinctively strategizing how to capitalize on the political energy. Rather than be on the right side of history, the question was: How do we become the brand associated with the positive vibes of that history? How do we become the choice carbonated beverage of the Resistance? As countless [brands post messages of solidarity]( brewed from a word soup of Black Lives Matter maxims, we’re still left to wonder which are well-intentioned, which are out of perfunctory obligation, which are looking to market to a movement, and which are actually moving to take action and do the work. Has anyone checked to see what Pepsi has been actually doing amidst all this? There’s the romanticization of empty gestures, the fantasy that emotional social media posts, black squares on Instagram, or pleas to reach out a hand—or a can—to those who disagree with you is all it takes to heal. It’s the misconception that peaceful, non-violent protests are meant to make the people on the other side comfortable—and ignorance of the fact that their discomfort is necessary. There’s also the fallacy of that imagery. The ad promotes the idea that protesting is, or should be, a party; I’ll bring the cause, you bring the Pepsi—and the fun! And what about the climactic image? The privilege involved in a white woman walking directly up to a police officer with no fear for her own safety, when a black demonstrator doing the same thing might have been arrested or even attacked. When actress [Keke Palmer](, just to use one example, confronted and initiated a dialogue with armed crowd enforcement, it was with the knowledge of the risk that carries. Watch any of the [countless videos]( across social media of frontline peaceful protesters beaten, pepper sprayed, tear gassed, and shot at with rubber bullets without initiating the violence. This disaster of a Pepsi ad has turned out to be one of the most significant pieces of commercialism and celebrity culture of this time, for every misconception it represents and every reality it doesn’t. For her part, Jenner seems to have evolved her thinking on these issues. On Tuesday, she [posted a carousel of photos]( pertaining to Black Lives Matter along with a lengthy caption, saying in part, “I will never personally understand the fear and pain that the black community go through on a daily basis, but I know that nobody should have to live in constant fear. I acknowledge my white privilege and promise I will continue to educate myself on how I can help. raging on platforms can not be all that we do in order to repair the system, we need to take real action, off of social media.” The next day, [she posted information]( about presidential primaries and made a call for followers to go out and vote—the true Pepsi can of change. Support Black Culture There are many tools at our disposal to activate, demand change, inform, and amplify right now, including your television. There is no equating it to the work being done on the streets, in protests, at the ballot box, through petitions and grassroots campaigns, and with donations. But there is action and amplification—and therefore change you can advocate for—through the content choices you make. Now, especially, is a time to celebrate black lives and the work of black creators, whose output is so often marginalized and dismissed, and whose barriers to success are systemically higher. Make the choice to engage through empathy with these characters, learn through their experiences, and, most importantly, signal through your viewership that these creators and these stories matter. [Image] HBO’s new series, I May Destroy You, which premieres Sunday, is a great start. The series, from Ghanian British creator-actress Michaela Coel (Chewing Gum), makes masterful use of her intense screen presence, keen eye for comedy, and sharp pulse on both the extremism and the extreme nuances of modern social issues. It’s a provocative, invigorating, and remarkably shaded look at consent and sexual assault, covering a huge swath of the conversation but rooting it in one specific story: Coel’s character, Arabella, piecing together the details of the night she was raped. It consistently goes places you don’t expect and tackles the issue from angles you don’t see coming, all centered around a performance from Coel that is thrillingly unpredictable. It premieres Sunday night after Insecure on HBO, which is our next recommendation. Insecure’s creators posted this message to fans last weekend: “We hope this celebration of Black life, love, and community can provide some solace to anyone hurting or needs a laugh.” It’s been a standout season of the series, with some of its bravest writing and [best performances](—easily [one of the best shows]( airing on television right now. If you’re looking for something activating to watch on Netflix, there’s Ava DuVernay’s documentary about the incarceration crisis, The 13th. Her limited series about the Exonerated Five, When They See Us, is also on the streaming platform, as is American Son, starring Kerry Washington, the searing dramedy series Dear White People, and the genre-bending teen drama See You Yesterday. You can also stream Barry Jenkins’ Best Picture-winning Moonlight on the service. Jenkins’ sensational If Beale Street Could Talk is on Hulu, as is the underappreciated Sorry to Bother You from Boots Riley and Regina Hall’s award-worthy performance in Support the Girls. The Lakeith Stanfield-Issa Rae romantic drama The Photograph is on demand. The Hate U Give is on Cinemax. Native Son is available to watch on HBO and its streaming services. Watch these things. Discover more—there’s so much more. Yes, it’s just a gesture, but it is one that’s worth something. C’mon, White People... [Alternate text]( People are processing what is happening right now in their own individual ways. That became horrifyingly clear this week when the Black Eyed Peas song “Where Is the Love?” [re-entered the iTunes single chart]( and The Help began [trending on Netflix](. Truly the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad of entertainment choices for this moment. Ben & Jerry’s...Gets It??? A lot of brands posted a lot of dumbass statements this week, hamfistedly attempting to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests and/or prove they are not racist. Ben & Jerry’s was not one of them. It is not an exaggeration when I say that I would vote Ben and his buddy Jerry into office—or, more realistically, whomever from their communications team drafted their protest response. Pepsi did not solve racism, but Chunky Monkey is sure as hell doing its part. [Alternate text]( [Read their post in full here](, complete with a four-pillar set of demands for action. Has Lea Michele Threatened to Shit in Your Wig? [Alternate text]( There are so many more important things to talk about right now, but if anyone else has more [gossip about Lea Michele]( to dish, I’ll just say it might be your civic duty to share it and give people who are weathering so much the juicy drama they crave. [Image] - I May Destroy You: It’s prickly and uncomfortable, which is why you should watch. - RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars: Everyone’s favorite fracking boomer brings back her girls. - Momma, I Made It!: Insecure star Yvonne Orji’s first stand-up special is a delight. - Queer Eye: Watch it, cry, do the Queer Eye thing. [Image] - 13 Reasons Why: This show has been so dangerous and problematic, and finally it’s ending. Advertisement [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( © Copyright 2020 The Daily Beast Company LLC 555 W. 18th Street, New York NY 10011 [Privacy Policy]( If you are on a mobile device or cannot view the images in this message, [click here]( to view this email in your browser. To ensure delivery of these emails, please add emails@thedailybeast.com to your address book. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, or think you have received this message in error, you can [safely unsubscribe](.