It was April 2017. If you were on Twitter—now X—that day, you probably remember the collective "what on earth were they thinking?" that rippled across the internet. Pepsi had just dropped a two-minute short film titled "Jump In" as part of their "Live for Now" campaign. It featured Kendall Jenner, a blonde wig, and a can of soda that was supposedly powerful enough to end decades of systemic injustice.
Honestly, it’s still hard to believe it got past a storyboard.
The ad starts with Kendall at a high-fashion photo shoot. She's wearing a heavy silver dress and a platinum blonde wig, looking very "supermodel." Outside, a crowd of incredibly attractive, multi-ethnic millennials is marching down the street. They’re carrying signs that say vague things like "Join the Conversation" and "Love." There’s music playing—Skip Marley’s "Lions"—and everyone is smiling. It looks less like a protest and more like a very expensive music festival.
Kendall sees a handsome cellist in the crowd. She decides she’s done with the wig. She rips it off, wipes away her dark lipstick, and joins the march. The climax of the Kendall Jenner controversial Pepsi commercial happens when she walks right up to a line of stern-looking police officers. She reaches into a bucket of ice, grabs a blue can of Pepsi, and hands it to one of the cops.
He takes a sip. He nods to his partner. The crowd erupts in cheers. Peace is restored.
Except, in the real world, things don't work like that.
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Why the Internet Exploded
The backlash was instantaneous. Within 24 hours, Pepsi wasn't just trending; it was being roasted by everyone from activists to the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bernice King tweeted a photo of her father being pushed by police with the caption: "If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi."
Ouch.
The core issue wasn't just that the ad was "cringe." It was that it directly mimicked real, traumatic imagery. People immediately pointed out the striking similarity between Kendall approaching the police and the iconic photo of Ieshia Evans. Evans was a Black woman who stood calmly in front of heavily armed riot police during a 2016 protest in Baton Rouge.
In the photo of Evans, there is palpable tension and the threat of arrest. In the Pepsi version, a wealthy white woman solves the problem with a carbonated beverage. Critics called it "woke-washing"—a cynical attempt by a massive corporation to use social justice movements to sell products without actually supporting any of the causes.
The In-House Mistake
How does a company with billions of dollars make such a massive blunder? Most of the blame fell on Pepsi’s "Creators League Studio." This was their in-house creative team. Usually, big brands hire outside ad agencies who act as a filter. Agencies are paid to tell clients when an idea is terrible.
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By keeping it in-house, Pepsi created an echo chamber. They were so focused on "reaching millennials" and "projecting unity" that nobody stopped to ask if they were trivializing the life-and-death stakes of actual protests. Even the CEO at the time, Indra Nooyi, later admitted she hadn't seen the final scene of the ad before it went live.
The Fallout for Kendall and Pepsi
Pepsi pulled the ad in less than 48 hours. They issued a groveling apology, saying they "missed the mark." They even apologized to Kendall Jenner for "putting her in this position."
Kendall stayed quiet for a long time.
Later, on an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, she was shown crying about the incident. She claimed she felt "stupid" and "innocent" and that her intention was never to hurt anyone. But for many, the damage was done. It became the ultimate example of "out-of-touch celebrity" behavior.
Interestingly, while Pepsi’s brand perception plummeted with millennials for about nine months, they eventually recovered. Sales didn't tank forever. However, the commercial became a permanent fixture in marketing textbooks as the "Gold Standard" of what not to do. It’s the go-to case study for why diversity in the room matters. If there had been more people with lived experience in that creative meeting, someone probably would have mentioned that handing a soda to a riot cop is a great way to get pepper-sprayed, not a great way to start a party.
What We Learned (The Hard Way)
Basically, you can't fake authenticity. If a brand wants to talk about social issues, it has to have "skin in the game." You can't just borrow the aesthetic of a revolution to sell sugar water.
The Kendall Jenner controversial Pepsi commercial changed how brands approach "purpose-driven marketing." It made companies terrified of being "too woke" or "tone-deaf," leading to a few years of very boring, safe advertising before brands figured out how to actually engage with social issues more respectfully.
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Actionable Takeaways for Brands and Creators
If you're a business owner or a content creator, there are real lessons here that go beyond "don't be Kendall Jenner."
- Vetting is Non-Negotiable: Always run your high-stakes ideas by people outside your immediate bubble. If everyone in the room looks the same and thinks the same, you’re in the "danger zone" for a PR disaster.
- Context is Everything: Understand the current cultural climate. In 2017, tensions regarding police-community relations were at an all-time high. Trying to use that tension as a backdrop for a lighthearted "unity" message was never going to work.
- The "So What?" Test: If your brand is going to take a stand, ask what you are actually doing. Are you donating? Are you changing your hiring practices? If the answer is "we're just making a video," you're likely headed for a "woke-washing" accusation.
- Own the Mistake Fast: Pepsi did get one thing right—they pulled the ad immediately. They didn't try to defend it for a week. They saw the fire and jumped on it with a fire extinguisher.
The next time you're planning a big project, do a "pre-mortem." Imagine it's been released and everyone hates it. Why do they hate it? Addressing those issues before you hit "publish" is the only way to avoid becoming the next viral cautionary tale.