When advertising loses its fizz

Last week’s big talking point was the Kendall Jenner /Pepsi advert that caused a bit of controversy.  Kendall was accused of deeply offending the Black Lives Matter movement with a much mocked advert saving a city from riot by offering a policeman a Pepsi. The ad was eventually removed and Pepsi issued a statement: ‘Pepsi was trying to promote a global message of unity, peace and understanding”.

Marketing journos couldn’t decide whether it was a PR win or PR loss for Pepsi. Campaign magazine’s Gurgit Degan gave an excellent round up of industry views http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/pepsi-ad-debacle-industry-responds-went-wrong/1429955 – many of whom blamed the fact Pepsi had taken their advertising in house.

The well-known adage, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” seems to apply here.  Having not reached for a Pepsi for 10 years (tending to choose the other cola brand with my vodka) I tend to agree.

Putting the chit chat aside we reached into the vaults of You Tube to find this. And we still know it off by heart, making it a great example of advertising that sticks in the mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB8rnZ-0dKw