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    Pepsi says it’s pulling widely mocked ad 

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2258 Views
    In this Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016, file photo, model Kendall Jenner has makeup applied backstage before the Michael Kors Spring 2017 collection is modeled during Fashion Week, in New York. Pepsi is not saying whether it will continue to run an ad, featuring Jenner, that is being widely criticized and mocked on social media for appearing to trivialize protests for social justice causes. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

    By CANDICE CHOI, Food Industry Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Pepsi on Wednesday pulled an ad after it was widely mocked and criticized for appearing to trivialize protests for social justice causes.

    "Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding," the company said. "Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize."

    It said it was "removing the content and halting any further rollout."

    The ad shows Kendall Jenner, a member of the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" reality TV family, stepping away from a modeling shoot to join a crowd of smiling, young protesters. The protesters cheer after Jenner hands a can of Pepsi to a police officer, who takes a sip.

    PepsiCo Inc. had previously said the ad was created by its in-house team and that it would "be seen globally across TV and digital" platforms.

    It initially described the spot as featuring "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." That description was also derided on social media.

    The Purchase, New York, company had stood by the ad late Tuesday. But on Wednesday, it was apologizing to Jenner for putting her "in this position."

    Critics say the image of Jenner handing the officer a Pepsi evoked a photo of Black Lives Matter protester Ieshia Evans approaching an officer at a demonstration in Baton Rouge last year. Others criticized the protesters' signs for being comically innocuous, with messages like "Join the Conversation" and heart and peace signs. The website Gothamist expressed a common sentiment online in calling the ad "gloriously tone-deaf."

    Among those mocking the ad was Bernice King, who tweeted a photo of her father, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., being confronted by a police officer at a protest march. "If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi," the tweet said.

    It isn't the first time PepsiCo has backpedaled and apologized for an ad. In 2013, it pulled a Mountain Dew ad that was criticized for portraying racial stereotypes and appearing to make light of violence toward women. It pulled that ad from online channels, and said it was never intended to run on TV.

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    Tags:Kendall JennerPepsi



    Ben Jones, “Dukes of Hazzard” actor and 2-term U.S. House member, dies at 84

    Monday, August 10, 2026
    Cooter, actor Ben Jones, sits atop one of the 229 hotrods, named the General Lee, used in the show "Dukes of Hazzard" as ecstatic fan, Aliceson Johnson, of Charlottesville, Va., sits in the drivers seat in front of his store in Sperryville, Va., Tuesday, Aug. 10, 1999. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

    Ben Jones, who played the good ol' boy mechanic in "The Dukes of Hazzard" TV series and parlayed his fame into a political career and two terms in the U.S. House, has died. He was 84.

    Jones had a heart attack in his home Sunday in Washington, Virginia, as he was waiting to watch his beloved Atlanta Braves play baseball, his wife, Alma Viator, said on social media. Rappahannock County Sheriff Connie Compton confirmed his death.

    Jones' fame came from his role as Cooter Davenport, the mechanic who got the Duke boys out of jams as they tried to do the right thing and fight the corrupt Boss Hogg in the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia.

    After playing Cooter for all seven seasons of the series from 1979 to 1985, Jones turned to politics and was elected to the U.S. House from a district near Atlanta in 1988. The Democrat served two terms before he was redistricted out of the seat.

    Jones was born in North Carolina and in college got involved in acting and civil rights, he wrote in his autobiography "Redneck Boy in the Promised Land: The Confessions of 'Crazy Cooter.'"

    Acting took over his life. Jones performed in numerous stage productions and had a few minor TV and movie roles in Atlanta during the 1970s before his life-defining break came on a TV show Jones defended as a modern-day morality tale and a fine example of Southern values.

    For seven seasons, Jones was one of a small band of friends and family helping Bo and Luke Duke in "The Dukes of Hazzard." The cousins were on probation for running moonshine and were constantly trying to clear their names and stop the crooked and powerful Boss Hogg from stealing or cheating.

    The Duke boys drove a modified 1969 Dodge Charger called the General Lee with a Confederate flag on... Read More

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