Americans Actually Like Ad That Pepsi Pulled

Pepsi’s public relations fiasco left its mark for its swift denouement: The soft-drink maker pulled an ad for its sugary beverage a day after launching it due to a massive public backlash.

At the same time, Morning Consult polling shows the ad was viewed favorably by half of young Americans, and a plurality of respondents actually had a more favorable view of the company after seeing the video, which used protest imagery and fashion model Kendall Jenner to promote its soda.

Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., tweeted in opposition of the ad and Pepsi also got the “Saturday Night Live” treatment over the weekend.

PepsiCo pulled the ad on April 5 and apologized, saying “we did not intend to make light of any serious issue,” after people criticized it for for being “tone deaf” in appropriating specific images from the Black Lives Matter movement and other protests, all in the name of selling soda.



But in contrast to the social media furor, 44 percent of poll respondents said they had a more favorable view of Pepsi after watching the video, compared to a quarter who said it gave them a less favorable view. And 32 percent of Americans said the ad made them more likely to buy Pepsi products, versus 20 percent who were less likely.