Alex Cooke wrote a post last week about Pepsi's fiasco of a TV commercial. The ad seemed to offend the majority of people who watched it, causing Pepsi to quickly pull it. On Saturday SNL did their own skit on what they believe it was like on set seconds before they were ready to film.
If you haven't already seen the original commercial, you should check that out first. It shows some sort of protest that resembles a Black Lives Matter event, with a range of other ethnicities. Kendall Jenner, whom I had never heard of until this commercial, is in the middle of some sort of fashion photoshoot and she decides to leave to join the protest with a Pepsi in hand. She then pushes through the crowd to give a stern looking officer the drink and the crowd for some reason becomes happy as he takes a sip.
https://youtu.be/dA5Yq1DLSmQ
Many people are claiming this commercial is racist for using certain ethnicities in stereotypical ways or for using something as serious as today's political climate to sell a drink. I'm personally not offended by any of that, I'm offended at the ridiculous concept. Many commercials are stupid but this one is particularly dumb and after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about the person or group of people who approved this. I also kept wondering what the director was thinking. I guess SNL was also wondering that exact same thing because on Saturday they created a humorous, and somewhat sad, skit about the director second guessing his concept moments before filming.
During the skit I did laugh, but at the same time I cringed because I know this actually did happen to a real person. Maybe it didn't happen seconds before filming, but it certainly happened the second they released it to the public.
"The ad seemed to offend the majority of people who watched it, causing Pepsi to quickly pull it."
No, it seems to have offended only the very vocal eternally offended.
"It shows some sort of protest that resembles a Black Lives Matter event,"
How did Pepsi's commercial resemble a BLM protest?
"I stop the police from shooting black people"??
Bloody hell, and somehow that's a better thing to say than Pepsi's commercial being made?
Nothing funny about SNL's skit. It just shows how bat shit crazy and politically obsessed the people are over at that show, and the media in general.
So you like the commercial?
I think it's a silly and naive commercial, but I didn't see anything about it to cause me to feel personally offended. As others said in Alex's original article, similar commercials were made in the past and no one really flipped out about it.
What SNL has done is reasonably offensive and dishonest because it is irresponsibly promoting the racist BLM movement and running down cops at the same time.
"the racist BLM movement"
In your opinion.
I don't really understand BLM. They have the chance to gain credibility by additionally calling out black on black murder but they don't. It would be easy to say it's because they're only interested in white on black crimes but that doesn't seem to fit either; in a few cases they've called out black and Hispanic police as well. If they're only interested in police brutality, why not change the name of their movement to more accurately reflect that? And of course they have a lot of other messaging problems due to the tactics of a very visible segment of their movement. It's difficult to take them seriously.
A cynic might think their only interest is in police, of any ethnicity, leaving black people alone whether or not they've committed a crime. Mind you, I'm not a cynic but they're out there. I see a couple across the street. Maybe I should move. Damned upside down mortgage!
And just so there's no confusion: Yes! I'm making light of the whole thing.
Their only interest is black people, which is why it is a racist movement.
I might have agreed with you but they've gone after black police officers. Also, they only seem to be interested in black people killed by police officers.
Actually, that's why I detest EVERY similar movement. Without exception they're only concerned with the movement and have no interest in the individuals they purport to be defending.
I haven't seen an instance where they react the same way towards a black cop as they do towards white cops. When they are caught by surprised and put into a position to react, when it turns out a black cop is responsible, it's amusingly awkward to watch.
You're right about them conveniently not bringing up the people that by far kill the most blacks, black people.
riiiight.
"In your opinion."
No, fact. If black people were properly concerned about police brutality and abuse of authority then they would say all lives matter, since black people are obviously not the only victims.
But, as usual, somehow it's supposed to be ok for black people and other minorities to be racist.
There's a difference between police brutality and SYSTEMATIC police brutality. That's too obvious it's almost imposible to believe you are not a racist for not taking it into account.
I wouldn't bother, Osvaldo. He's clearly missed the entire point of the movement. There's no point arguing with these types as they'll never concede an opinion and routinely must have the last word.
"There's no point arguing with these types as they'll never concede an opinion and routinely must have the last word."
Why not let Osvaldo do his own thinking?
I don't concede to misinformation, lies and racism.
When debating someone I'm not under any illusion that I can get the other side to concede anything. For me the purpose of a debate is to convince the undecided and to gain the interest of those that previously had none.
As for "the last word," would you prefer people be silenced in some way?
I think you mean "systemic." In either case, I don't remember the numbers but black deaths by police are the minority of cases by raw numbers or percentages. If you don't want to take my word for it, I'll look it up for you. Let me know.
Correct. Far more white people are killed by cops.
"There's a difference between police brutality and SYSTEMATIC police brutality. That's too obvious it's almost imposible to believe you are not a racist for not taking it into account."
The police brutality I was referring to is systemic police brutality, otherwise I wouldn't be talking about it. Cases of random brutality are obviously not relevant to this type of discussion.
Getting back to matter of police brutality on blacks, obviously it isn't only black people that are affected. That the BLM people are focusing only on black people shows them to be racist.
And please, don't play the race card on me. I haven't said anything at all for you to even suggest that I am racist. Get a hold of your emotions and try and think rationally and logically.
The police brutality I was referring to was systemic. Like Patrick I'm assuming that's what you meant to say.
If it wasn't about systemic brutality then it would be worth discussing in this context, would it?
The fact is, systemic police brutality obviously doesn't affect only black people. That the BLM people only focus on black people shows them to be racist.
And don't even try and play the race card on me. I haven't said anything where someone can even suspect that I am racist.
You must be a ton of fun at parties.
People who are not easily offended and who don't look to be offended are usually a lot of fun at parties.
Haha yes. 'Usually' being the operative word here...
And you have somehow surmised I wouldn't be, based on what exactly?
Haha.. never mind
I wish you could walk a lifetime in African-American shoes and I mean from the ship to the shore....maybe you would change your tune.
What ship are you referring to? Slave ships? Are you freakin kidding? What slave ship did you arrive on?
I didn't have to arrive on a ship to know what my ancestors went through. For you to label BLM as a racist originizaton is absurd, you should stop watching Fauxnews and Bill O'Reilly and experience truth for yourself. BLM has never oppressed a race because of its skin color, or burned a cross on its neighbors lawn because they didn't agree with a person(s) race, religion or oreintation. And a small fact BLM isn't just African-American, its Mexicans, Asians and Whites.
"I didn't have to arrive on a ship to know what my ancestors went through."
You are contradicting yourself. Read again what you wrote.
"For you to label BLM as a racist originizaton is absurd, you should stop watching Fauxnews and Bill O'Reilly and experience truth for yourself."
Of course the BLM movement is racist. Police brutality affects all races. For them to only want to focus on black people is inherently and obviously racist.
I don't watch Fox News, but if I did such a thing wouldn't be relevant and isn't a reasonable and logical retort for what I've been saying.
"BLM has never oppressed a race because of its skin color, or burned a cross on its neighbors lawn because they didn't agree with a person(s) race, religion or orientation."
A person or organization doesn't have to do such things to be racist.
"And a small fact BLM isn't just African-American, its Mexicans, Asians and Whites."
Of course. Such people also think it's ok for minorities to be racist. That's a typically left wing view.
The parody makes fun of the ad by showing how they tried to portrait a beautiful message by using stereotypes and social causes only to sell a product. It's a way to show how manipulative and hypocrite they were by doing it. That's why majority of people didn't like it, not only the vocal minority.
Advertising is all about being manipulative.
How was Pepsi being hypocritical??
"That's why majority of people didn't like it, not only the vocal minority."
Your claim. Can you back it up with impartial surveys? The response on this site (a site where it is reasonable to say most people lean to the left) to the original article indicates otherwise.
I haven't watched television or ads on the internet since probably before you were born so I have nothing to compare it to but, haven't the bulk of commercials always been stupid? What about this particular one caused you so much thought regarding its creation? Of course the ensuing controversy could be the reason but was there something beyond that?
You're right, most commercials are really dumb but this one seemed particularly bad to me because 1. It was Pepsi and I hold giant companies to a higher standard and 2. They took a protest and police standoff, something that is a particularly hot topic, and made a joke of it.
If the commercial was a bunch of people protesting Trump and then Trump drinks a Pepsi and everyone is all of a sudden happy, I would think it was equally stupid.
Hmm... Neither option would bother me. I guess I'm too old to take this kind of thing seriously. I am, however, bothered by people's reactions to such things. Not that it offends me but I worry about where society is going. It's never been unicorns and puppies but it's getting pretty bad out there.
I think there will eventually be a civil war in America. A lack of patriotism on one side and a lack of action on the other side has caused this.
It's going to be a lot worse than civil war but, of course, I don't know when nor could I provide evidence of that eventuality..
No, it will be a civil war and the country will go on. I believe the right side, the side that isn't afraid of the truth, will prevail. The right side always prevails in the end.
I feel the same. I'm a little bemused to see how outraged some people were about the ad, and then how outraged others were about the first lot of outrage. Maybe I am also too old to take this kind of thing seriously.
Objectively, Pepsi didn't make a joke out of anything in that commercial. You're simply being cynical.
I'd like to give an on topic comment, but I'm not allowed to see the SNL video. Gotta love geoblocking!
Nothing wrong with geoblocking. It's SNL's content; they can make it available to whomever they want.
Yeah, geoblocking is ridiculous. My region is blocked, too. This reminds me - must sort out a vpn solution for my phone.
These guys spoof it too and do a good job at showing why some people may be offended. https://youtu.be/p5vvRRJRrpo
What does this have to do with photography?
It has a lot to do with the advertising world which uses countless photographers and videographers every day...There's a ton of crossover
The feedback loop of imagery, politics, social justice, and culture. It has everything to do with photography. I don't mean this as a jab at you, but it always surprises me when people ask that about topics like this. This is when we're seeing the real impact of imagery as opposed to talking about it for its own sake. This is when it matters most.
You think this commercial has more impact than a documentary video or a photo like "vulture girl"? Not that I disagree with your general point but, come on...it's a commercial. Have a Cok.. er... Pepsi and a smile!
Note: I really wanted to use a strikeout over "Cok" but don't know how, if it's even possible. Is there a way to format text here?
P.S. I also wanted to bold "Note:"
sigh...
With all due respect, Alex, Fstoppers is a photography blog, and has done a great job of reporting on and discussing social justice, imagery and cultural situations, but within the photography world. I remember an article about Tienanmen Square, but the article's starting point was the famous photo of the lone man in front of the tank and expanded from there. Body shaming and realistic body representation are topics Fstoppers covers all the time - and rightly so. One of today's topics is how far is too far when editing portraits - a subject I have to deal with almost every day.
The only thing this Pepsi ad has in common with the photographic industry is it was filmed on cameras and has Kendal Jenner. If that's enough, are you going to start writing opeds on the state of American politics because photographers happen to be in the room during press meetings?
There's plenty of social issues within the photo industry without branching out to commentary on general crappy ads, but at this point we'll probably have to agree to disagree.
i'm offended by the hack photographers and cameras that they used. couldn't they find some real ones to at least make it look real? maybe that's because i drink diet coke and shoot nikon? probably. peace out. #nikonlivesmatter
I'm offended by people that refuse to capitalize sentences.
Nikon had it's chance.
Hey! I'm a member of NLM! ;-)
The one great thing about Trump being president is that it has exposed the left wing media and much of the left for what they truly are. Politically correct, America hating fascists.
Harsh? Not at all. It is fact, unfortunately.
WHAT? They pulled the ad and people are STILL l talking about it? That means it worked out even better than they were expecting, lol. Don't know why, but I'm feeling that I want an ice cold Pepsi right now..