If there is a God, he forgives, but Twitter doesn't and today is no exception.
South Africans have had a tough enough week. And waking up to Pepsi's tomfoolery was not something we could have foreseen. The new, cringeworthy ad starring Kendall Jenner is making its rounds across the internet, and Twitter users are tearing it to shreds. The commercial, titled "Live for Now Moments Anthem," co-opted visuals from the numerous protests and marches across the nation in an astoundingly tone-deaf fashion, to say the least.
To make matters worse, the commercial is trending on the 49th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. Not today, Satan.
Why didn't anyone tell all protesters to have ever lived that they could stop police from killing them with a Pepsi? Where have we been?
"Capturing the spirit and actions of those people that jump in to every moment and featuring multiple lives, stories and emotional connections that show passion, joy, unbound and uninhibited moments," the YouTube description for the woeful ad reads. "No matter the occasion, big or small, these are the moments that make us feel alive."
Although the negative backlash continues, Pepsi told Adweek in a statement: "This is a global ad that reflects people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony, and we think that's an important message to convey."
In a strange way, Pepsi did just that — people from all different walks of life, from across the globe, came together to rip the commercial on Twitter.
Now we we know in a protest to avoid getting shot give the cop a Pepsi pic.twitter.com/EOWXCRC4lb
— Prince of 2cities (@Kokoleo_zn) April 5, 2017
@ the new politically-deaf @pepsi add pic.twitter.com/RlRdXqaguS
— Sophie Waddington (@sophie_wadd) April 5, 2017