Advertising and Co-opting Reality
So… on the whole “appropriation” of the Aisha Evans image by Pepsi with it’s Kendall Jenner commercial. That rings pretty hollow. It is certainly an appropriation of authentic protests and social movements in general (not much different than the old “I’d like to give the world a Coke” commercial). And it’s a stupid commercial, no doubt, as are most Pepsi commercials. But if anything, the whole scenario seems taken from the iconic images of “flower children” putting daisies in the barrels of guns during Anti-Vietnam War Protests, like that re-enacted in opening credits of The Watchmen… without the gunshot…
Any outrage or ridicule about Pepsi’s commercial should be about how manipulative and conniving advertising and PR is as an industry, that it co-opts real emotion and real commitment to sell a brand image. It mocks real culture, it steals from us, re-presents it, and then charges us for it.
