Don’t Commercialize My Cause
White privilege and profiting off of the struggles of the marginalized.
By now, you’ve heard of the controversial Pepsi ad starring none other than Kendall Jenner — right? If you’ve been living under a rock and somehow missed the video, take a look below. If you have seen it, you already know how cringe-worthy it is.
The evident issue: Jenner is playing the role of the famed “white saviour”, solving the oppression of marginalized people with a can of Pepsi. Because it’s just that simple right?
The ad is evidently attempting to channel and replicate the rallies that have been going on recently, from Black Lives Matter protests to anti-Islamophobia protests. The major problem with the ad though, is that everyone involved in the protest looks like they’re having a great time. Have you ever seen more of a white person’s take on what a protest looks like? Because I haven’t. This representation looks more like a Pepsi-pride parade, instead of a fight for an actual cause.
Here is what real protest looks like:
See, I understand what Pepsi was trying to do. They were trying to celebrate unity and inclusiveness. However, inclusiveness doesn’t start by handing a police guard a can of Pepsi, and it definitely doesn’t include a white woman leading or saving the day.
There are so many other ways Pepsi could’ve represented unity without commercializing protests and what they’re supposed to stand for. By doing this, they are actually supporting the desensitization of protest; showcasing it as a social trend instead of individuals fighting for a meaningful cause. Social media has fantasized the idea of protest. People participate in protests just to say they did so on their Facebook and Instagram accounts, because these days everyone wants to be “woke.”
Let me tell you, going to one protest doesn’t make you woke, writing a long Facebook status about it doesn’t make you woke, and most importantly, calling yourself woke most definitely does not make you woke. By creating the illusion of a peaceful, uplifting time, they’ve completely defeated the purpose of those who have actually been arrested, and have been physically, verbally and emotionally assaulted at protests.
Pepsi was attempting to profit off of the struggles of the marginalized. The commercial wasn’t benefiting anyone except Jenner and Pepsi. It was not an accurate depiction of struggle, and since fighting for a cause is the new ‘hip” thing to do, they decided it would be a great idea to make money off of it. They even included a Muslim woman wearing hijab at the highlight of their commercial. Why? To gain positive publicity from Muslims. They showcased Black people. Why? To gain support from the Black community.
What Pepsi and Jenner were not expecting though was to receive the enormous amount of backlash that they did. Since the commercials release, Pepsi has pulled their ad and released this statement:
“Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”
Who are they really apologizing to? It seems to me, and most of the world, that this apology was directed towards Kendall Jenner, after her publicist and marketing team went for Pepsi, blaming them for all the negativity coming her way now.
This is what we call, white privilege. Instead of taking responsibility and releasing her own statement for her misjudgment, and calling out the script and her role in it, she deleted all her posts on her social media that had anything to do with it, and put it all behind her, taking no part in the blame.
Maybe if Kendall and her family focused more on becoming an ally to black lives instead of appropriating their culture, she would have immediately seen the problems with her role in this commercial.
A half-ass apology isn’t enough. Workplaces need to be hiring more people of colour to avoid making these kinds of mistakes. In the whole process of creating the idea, through filming to editing to releasing, could not even one person realize the problematic nature of this ad? It just goes to show how white-dominated workplaces, including the film and tv industries are, which is why Pepsi is having to deal with this issue in the first place.
So thank you Pepsi, for giving us, People of Colour, another reason to fight back.
