PEPSI KENDALL JENNER PROTEST ADVERT APRIL 4, 2017
SHARMON LUCHUCK SEPT 1, 2017 CASE STUDIES IN PR SIGNY GERRARD
Situational Analysis Pepsi is one of the world's most iconic global brands in the soda industry. The Pepsi portfolio includes three products - Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi MAX — that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Historically, Pepsi and its rival Coca Cola have each sought the audience of young consumers by pitching the message of global unity. Coca Cola's, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" advert from 1971 is one the most well-known but Pepsi has long targeted the youth culture with slogans like "Pepsi Generation" and "For those who think Young" and have used big-name celebrities like Michael Jackson in the 1980's, Cindy Crawford in the 1990's, and Brittany Spears in 2006. Fast forward to 2017 and Kendall Jenner follows in the footsteps of Cindy Crawford as the next model to land the coveted role of Pepsi spokeswoman. On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, Pepsi released its new advert starring Kendall Jenner called "Jump In", part of the next chapter in the soda brand's "Live for Now" campaign. Meant to relate to the Millenial generation and their social activist sensibility, Pepsi wanted to be timely and position themselves as understanding the current political atmosphere of America. They attempted to capture the tone of racial unrest of the Black Lives Matter protests and of anti-Trump women's marches to get to the heart of the target audience and try to unite the many voices of the conversation by the simple act of sharing a Pepsi.
The advert shows the reality TV star doing a street side photo shoot as a generic and random crowd of protesters march by. The hip guy who also happens to be a budding cellist motions for her to join in, so Kendall rips off her platinum blond wig, wipes her lipstick off and joins the protest. As she grabs a Pepsi, the crowd cheers, fist bumps, and smiles. The ad ends with Kendall walking up to the line of policemen who are monitoring the protest and hands the attractive, young officer a Pepsi. As he takes a sip, he relaxes with a smile, prompting the crowd to erupt in cheers.
The Crisis Pepsi thought the advert was a light-hearted, clever spin on young people's ability to change the world. However, the internet did not agree and within 48 hours Pepsi had pulled the advert and issued an apology.
The video had nearly 1.6 million views on YouTube (five times as many downvotes as upvotes), and Twitter, and Facebook were on fire. The social media backlash was swift, as people quickly accused Pepsi of appropriating the Black Lives Matter movement and using social justice to sell soda. Others said the imagery was tone deaf and the shot where Kendall approaches the police man to offer him a Pepsi, replicated the real-life image of Black Lives Matter protester Leshia Evans who was detained after she approached police at a demonstration in Baton Rouge following the shooting death of Alton Sterling by police.
While others tweeted their shock and anger of the flippant and trivialization of people's struggle for their rights and freedoms.
The intense criticism prompted Pepsi to issue a statement late Tuesday night, where Pepsi defended the ad by saying it "captures the spirit and actions of those people that jump into every moment...and features multiple lives, stories and emotional connections that show passion, joy, unbound and uninhibited moments. No matter the occasion, big or small, these are the moments that make us feel alive." The next day on April 5th, Pepsi issued an apology tweet but this was also criticized because they apologized to Kendall Jenner, who chose to do the advert and got paid well in exchange.
Bernice King, daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated 49 years ago on the day the advert debuted, tweeted a picture of her father protesting as an officer’s hand grips his chest, with the caption: “If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi.”
Pepsi's crisis was relatively short lived with most of the damage being done on social media between when the advert was launched on April 4, until it was deleted on April 5 and the only remanent of its existence is the official apology tweet on Pepsi's Twitter page. Of course, the video and the barrage of criticisms are still online and relatively fresh in people's minds because of the political rhetoric in America and heightened racial unrest. Pepsi completely misread the political climate of America, the power of social media and most importantly, the integrity and intolerance to the exploitation of social issues of its Millennial audience.
Recommendations Objective To improve the brand perception of Pepsi by 20% among American Millennials aged 22-37 years-old by August 2018.
Audiences Allies - Baby Boomers and Gen X'ers, probably primarily Caucasians, die-hard Pepsi customers Self-interests - This group is a bit older so will be fans or diehard Pepsi customers and even if they don't approve of the Pepsi advert, will still need to have their Pepsi fix. They might not be interested in politics and will not be as tech savvy, so may not have seen or heard too much about the advert and feel it does not affect their lives. Neutrals - Millennials, Generation Z, parents, ethnic minorities Self-interests - This group is a combination of Caucasian and Ethnic backgrounds. They may not have experienced direct racism or know anyone who has, they are fairly engaged and active on social media but do not feel strongly enough about the advert that they will boycott the brand; however, they also do not approve of it. They are more apathetic and will forgive Pepsi if they consciously attempt to become more socially responsible. They have varied interests and enjoy sports, animals and are influenced by their peers and communities.
Adversaries - African-American Millennials and Gen X'ers, Hispanic-Americans, other ethnic minorities of colour, New American citizens, illegal immigrants Self-interests - This group of people are aware of or has been personally affected by racial tensions and/or racism and the policies of the government. They are engaged, read and watch the news, and are active on social media. They feel threatened and/or unsafe in their own country.
Key Messages All Americans matter and must be treated equally. Pepsi empowers the young generation so they can achieve anything. Pepsi is part of a movement to advocate for change. Stand with your community and stand for change. Pepsi has been a part of American history for 119 years. We have had our ups and downs but we are still here because we pick ourselves up and try to do better tomorrow. Build your personal best for a better now and for a better tomorrow.
Strategy Create a National social media campaign to empower everyday heros and future sports stars. These influencers will inspire the youth generation to live bolder and live louder.
Tactics Build a microsite for the #everydayheros campaign on pepsi.com to see the latest hero information and videos On the microsite, challenge the target audience to create change within their communities. Offer sponsorships and charitable donations to grassroots projects that inspire change by uniting youth globally to "Live for Now" Use Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook to create stories around everyday community heroes and future sports stars. These will serve to give a voice to young people doing amazing things in their communities and inspire others to get involved. Create the #100bookhero campaign on the website. This will encourage Millenials to live bolder and live louder by reading books. The content will focus on tips and challenges to read 50 pages per day for a total of 100 books per year. There will be the opportunity for user-generated content and a virtual book club environment with peer recommendations and discussions.