International Media Marketing MPM Tutor: Christine Moynihan Student: Niamh Phelan 12/10/19

International Media Marketing Tutor: Christine Moynihan Student: Niamh Phelan
International Media Marketing
MPM
Tutor: Christine Moynihan
Student: Niamh Phelan
12/10/19
An in-depth report on the failure of the Pepsi advertisement in

2017, within the American market.
Task1 Introduction to the product.
Task 2 Introduction to why it failed, elaborating on

the specific PEST factor.
Task 3 In-depth discussion on the particular market,

the PEST factor and the product.
Task 4 Conclusion – could this product have been

saved?
I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of
study leading to the award of BA (Hons) in Media Production Management, is entirely my
own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such
work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work.
Signed:
Task 1: Introduction to the product.

This report will look at a failed media product and refer it to the PEST analysis. A PEST
analysis is a tactical tool used by companies to help discover factors that could impact their
company or product such as Political, Economic, Social and Technological. [CITATION
Gro191 \l 2057 ]
The media product that will be analysed in this report referring to the PEST factors, is an
advertisement which was released by Pepsi and starring Kendall Jenner. This advertisement
stirred huge controversy and uproar globally due to its nature and content.
The advert features Kendall Jenner, a well-known public figure being photographed wearing
glamourous clothes for a photoshoot. During the photoshoot a large group of mixed-race
protestors walk by holding banners and signs with images of the peace sign and love hearts.
A nod from one of the fellow protestors prompts Kendall Jenner to remove her wig and wipe
away her lipstick to join in with the crowd, no longer the ‘glamorous model’ but just an
ordinary girl. The protestors are then faced with a line of police who are ready to intervene
until Kendall Jenner walks up and hands one of the policemen a can of Pepsi. This ultimately
ends the protest and stops future intervention from the authorities, ending the protest in a
peaceful and happy nature. [CITATION Rad171 \l 2057 ]
Task 2: Introduction to why it failed, elaborating on the specific pest factor.
This report will analyse a Pepsi advert which was released on the 4 th of April 2017 and after
just 24 hours it was pulled and removed from all social media platforms. [ CITATION Bbc171 \l
2057 ][ CITATION Jul17 \l 2057 ]
Statistics from ‘Amobee Brand Intelligence’ showed that the digital content input around
Pepsi increased drastically by 366% in just one day. 43% of people had mentioned ‘Black
Lives Matter’, 31% referred to the advert as being ‘tone deaf’ and 10% labelled it as being
the worst ever. [CITATION Kri171 \l 2057 ]
So, what was wrong with the advertisement? Protests and justice movements have been a
huge part of the American culture. It represents a time when many suffered and some even
died to stand up for what they believe in, yet we can see in this advertisement all people
needed was a can of ‘Pepsi’. This was seen as being offensive and insensitive on Pepsi’s
behalf. Pepsi tried to make light of people’s suffering with regards to social issues in not only
America but all over the globe. [CITATION Kri171 \l 2057 ]
“Pepsi should have consulted people who have actually been on the front lines of protests
these recent years’ ‘says social worker and feminist activist Jones’”.[CITATION Kri171 \p
"Paragraph 4" \l 2057 ]
It was a wrong move from Pepsi to try and use these social issues to sell their products. Not
only did people take offense to a can of Pepsi solving the issues of a country, it was also
wrong to cast a ‘rich white girl’ (Kendall Jenner). The message in the advertisement does not
align with the model’s principles. Kendall Jenner has never spoken out on any social issues,
yet she comes across as the hero and the missing piece to end the fighting. [CITATION Ily171 \l
2057 ]
Pepsi spoke out after the uproar claiming that ‘It was trying to project a global message of
unity peace and understanding’. Pepsi then apologised for the advertisement stating ‘Clearly,
we missed the mark’. [CITATION Nat171 \p "11th paragraph" \l 2057 ]
It seems Pepsi had intended to do good with the message in the advert and try to connect with
the millennials of today by using a well-known figure to try and tackle the social issues
countries such as America face. Although, due to lack of research into the matter it ultimately
backfired.
The clear Pest factor that affected this advertisement was Socio Cultural. This relates to the
trends, attitudes and behaviours that could have an impact on your company or product.
A question that should have been asked before making this advertisement was ‘How does the
beliefs and values of our customers impact what they buy’? [ CITATION Gro191 \l 2057 ]
Pepsi clearly did not take into account American beliefs and values when it comes to
protesting, especially how it would look with a white model as the hero. In fact, they have
disrespected millions of people and undermined the work of important role models in
American such as ‘Martin Luther King’.
Task 3: In-depth discussion on the particular market, the pest factor and the product.
The market that will be analysed for the purpose of this report is the American Market. To
date there are 329,627,812 people living in America, (this figure will increase and decrease
daily). [ CITATION Wor19 \l 2057 ]
The US is one of the largest markets in the world with Pepsi making up 10.77% of the North
America market share. The US market accounts for nearly 300 million consumers and is
responsible for almost 25% of global economic output. Although the US is a diverse country
it is considered quite homogenous. [ CITATION The17 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Csi19 \l 2057 ]
Advertising plays a major role within the American society. It is responsible for fuelling the
economic growth, fostering a wide selection of affordable media choices and to educate the
public. [ CITATION Ana19 \l 2057 ]
This year saw the digital advert spending in the US surpass traditional advert spending. In
2019 alone US advertisers will spend 129 billion on digital advertising and 109 billion on
online advertising, showing that digital advertising is becoming more effective in America.
[ CITATION eMa19 \l 2057 ]
‘American Association of Advertising Agencies Standards of Practise’ states, that in relation

to advertising it should refrain from, statements, suggestions or pictures offensive to public
morality. It is recommended to steer clear of advertising which could be in poor or
questionable taste. It is clear that the Pepsi advert did not adopt these standards of practise.
[ CITATION Acc16 \l 2057 ]
On the 4th of April, the day the Pepsi advert was released there were 427,000 mentions of
Pepsi on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. On the 5 th of April, the day after the Pepsi advert
was removed the Pepsi topic gained another 1.25 million mentions. [ CITATION Gem17 \l 2057 ]
The advert was available online in a digital marketing format and with the high number of
social media users in America (247 million), [ CITATION Sta19 \l 2057 ] there was no way to
escape seeing this advertisement. One of the main issues of having an advertisement like this
online especially back in 2017 when social media was at its peak, is these platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram become a powerful tool in making something be known, in
this case this was peoples opinion on the Pepsi advertisement.
Picture attained from: www.brandwatch.com.
The year 2017 when the Pepsi advertisement was released was a big year in America for
‘real’ and ‘genuine’ protests such as ‘The Women’s March’ to stand up for equality for all
groups, ‘May Day’ to stand up against Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies and ‘The
March for Racial Equality’ to stand up for black women’s rights. [ CITATION Lea17 \l 2057 ]
These protests did not look like the one people were seeing in the advert. The Pepsi
advertisement almost ‘glamourised’ the imaging of protests in America, when clearly this is
not the case. The advert undermines the courage that people have shown when it comes to a
real-life protest as well as the ‘white privilege’ which will be discussed throughout this
report.
The advertisement as mentioned earlier has been linked to the ‘Black Lives Matter’
movement. People accused Pepsi of making light of this movement where it was said that the
image of Kendall Jenner approaching the line of Police was mimicking the famous photo of
Iesha Evans, an American black woman who was arrested in 2016. [CITATION Dan17 \l 2057 ]
‘Black Lives Matter’ is a movement which started up back in 2013, to give black people in
America a voice and to stand up to violence inflicted on black communities by the state.
[CITATION Bla13 \l 2057 ]
America is a multi-ethnic country which categorizes its population into 6 groups one being
African American. Therefore, it is a huge group within American culture. [CITATION Ben19 \l
2057 ]
America is in the midst of a racial war especially since Donald Trump was elected. The fact
that Pepsi missed this major socio-cultural issue around ‘Black Lives Matter’ and replaced a
very similar image with a ‘rich white girl’ is what tore the Pepsi advert down in just under 24
hours and rightly so.
The two similar images can be seen below.
Picture attained from www.nbcnews.com.
In America people are still dealing with police violence. In 2017, the year the Pepsi advert
was released, police in America shot dead 1,129 people, a quarter of those being African
American. [CITATION Jos17 \l 2057 ]
Over the last number of years, the figures of those killed during a protest is substantial. These
issues are seen constantly on television and in the newspapers in America. There is no reason
why Pepsi would not have been aware of these issues or maybe they were and they were
trying to bring some light to the problem. Although, what they really didn’t think through
was again, as I have previously mentioned having a ‘white rich girl’ such as Kendall Jenner
walking up to a line of police with a can of Pepsi and supposedly ending all the problems
America face with equality. In reality people have died under these circumstances
particularly African American’s or have been arrested like Iesha Evans, pictured above. It is
uncanny how similar these pictures are, except the major difference being the skin colour of
the two women.
Although it is important for big companies to tap into a markets culture, it is very wrong to
do so by trying to capitalize an issue that has led to deaths and racism in a country. [CITATION
Nin17 \l 2057 ]
If this report wasn’t already clear enough as to how Pepsi clearly misjudged the socio culture
in America, the Pepsi advert was released on the same day as the 49 th anniversary of Martin
Luther King’s assassination. [CITATION Nin17 \l 2057 ]
Martin Luther King was a civil rights activist who spent years fighting for African Americans
in America from the 1950’s up until his death in 1968. He is a huge part of American history
and culture and should not have been ‘mocked’ or replaced by a member of the Kardashian
Klan. [CITATION Dav19 \l 2057 ]
Bernice King, Martin Luther’s King’s daughter tweeted in response to the advert saying
“if only daddy would have known the power of Pepsi”, alongside a picture of her late father
being pushed back by police during a civil rights protest. The Tweet was shared over 117,000
times and liked by 200,000 people. [CITATION Roi17 \l 2057 ]
Picture attained from www.independent.co.uk.
It is clear Pepsi was trying to use the advert to capture the zeitgeist of America over the last
few years by using the song by ‘Skip Marley’ which talks about the movement referring to
the ‘Black Lives Matter’ and then again with the final image taken from the scene of Iesha
Evans standing up for her rights as a black women. Instead of Pepsi trying to collaborate with
the black culture it merely stole from it and offended everyone who is a part of it. [CITATION
Mir17 \l 2057 ]
Task 4: Conclusion – could this product have been saved?
This report shows that there were many problems with this advert. There is no explanation as
to how someone in the making of this advertisement did not at any stage think that it could
not cause problems especially within the American market. I think that if the advert was to
have been shown outside of America only, the backlash would not have been as severe.
If Pepsi were trying to connect with the youth culture of today by using a powerful movement
which sums up the zeitgeist of America, then it went about it completely wrong. I don’t think
anyone appreciates a fizzy drinks company using such a powerful movement to sell a product
especially when it involves racism.
This product could have been saved if certain elements were left out. For example, if the
advert did not include Kendall Jenner and someone who is involved in protests or the ‘Black
Lives Matter’ movement it would have been more authentic. Removing the final scene which
included the standoff from the line of police would also have to have been removed as again
this is what happens in real life protests in America and it does not end happily by handing
them a can of Pepsi. What could have been done instead, is having a group of protestors
walking through the streets, from different backgrounds and colours sharing a moment and
that moment is with Pepsi, forgetting the model and forgetting the line of police it would be
less likely to cause offense.
Therefore, in conclusion, it is fair to suggests that if certain elements were left out of the
advert it is likely that it may have succeeded.
Unfortunately, the advert was released, resulting in Pepsi having to face the aftermath of the
advertisement. This led to its lowest consumer sales in over 10 years. [CITATION Ted17 \l
2057 ]
Word count: 2169 excluding, declaration, title, TOC and Bibliography.
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International Media Marketing Tutor: Christine Moynihan Student: Niamh Phelan

International Media Marketing

Tutor: Christine Moynihan

Student: Niamh Phelan

An in-depth report on the failure of the Pepsi advertisement in

Task1 Introduction to the product.

Task 2 Introduction to why it failed, elaborating on

Task 3 In-depth discussion on the particular market,

Task 4 Conclusion – could this product have been

Task 1: Introduction to the product.

Task 2: Introduction to why it failed, elaborating on the specific pest factor.

‘American Association of Advertising Agencies Standards of Practise’ states, that in relation

Picture attained from: www.brandwatch.com.

The two similar images can be seen below.

Picture attained from www.nbcnews.com.

Picture attained from www.independent.co.uk.

Task 4: Conclusion – could this product have been saved?

Word count: 2169 excluding, declaration, title, TOC and Bibliography.

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