Pepsi is a popular brand of soda. But is it the most
popular? According to nbcnews.com, Pepsi is most often ranked as second place in
brands of soda. Pepsi also comes in third behind Coca Cola and Diet Coke in soda
flavors. Pepsi was created in 1898. Fun fact, Coca Cola actually came out first
in 1886. This was interesting because my family loves soda. As kids we saw our
parents drink soda rather than coffee or alcohol. My dad started to love of
soda. In college, he would go to the Superette on Monroe to get a soda. At this
time, he was drinking Pepsi. As the years have gone on, we are now a family who
drink Diet Coke. In my mind I though that Pepsi came out first, but it didn’t. These
soda brands came out over 135 years ago, meaning it was out way before my
parents were even born. I guess its really interesting on how one brand could
have a better marketing skill then the other.
The pictures above show my two brothers and I love of soda and 7-Eleven.
Pepsi’s mission statement is “create more smiles with every
sip and every bite” (Pepsico). They also have two statements for their
consumers and customers. “For our consumers: by creating joyful moments through
our delicious and nourishing products and unique brand experiences. For our
customers: By being the best possible partner, driving game-changing innovation,
and delivering a level of growth unmatched in our industry” (Pepsico).
Back in April 2017, Kendall Jenner appeared in a Pepsi commercial.
This commercial made big headlines. The reason it made big headlines is because
the commercial was all about the Black Lives Matter movement supported by a
white supermodel. In the commercial, it shows Jenner doing a photo shoot, from the
distance she sees a group forming on the street. She then decides to join the
group which is a street protest. They solve the protest by handing the police a
can of Pepsi.
Picture from: Yahr
A lot of people were angry about this decision. There are to many tweets to show it. Pepsi decided
to pull the commercial. Although most of the tweets were angry, there were a
handful of good ones. Here are two examples of how some of the tweets were nice.
The basis of the tweet was that they didn’t think anything was bad about the commercial.
Here is one of my favorite tweets I found. It really
encompasses what happened in the video.
I have mixed feelings about this commercial. I get why they
choose this kind of topic, but it wasn’t a great decision. Every commercial, TV show or movie tries to be inclusive. We what inclusivity in race, gender, relationship
status and everything in between. Except this wasn’t the type of inclusivity the
audience wanted. Inclusivity should be positive, show multiple people, this was
a negative thing happening in African American’s lives. Sure, all different
kinds of race were represented in the protest, but it just wasn’t a good decision
made. Pepsi pulled the commercial and tweeted this statement.
Everyone makes mistakes. I personally always see both sides
to a decision. With these kinds of mistakes, I often question how it made it so
far without someone saying, “maybe we should take this commercial in a
different direction”. This is especially the case for when creating something for
a high production company. I’m sure it took a lot of hoops to make it to releasing
the commercial, so why and how did this get approved. As a brand manager, I would
hope I wouldn’t make this same mistake. In response to the customers I would
for sure, apologize, give reason why I thought it was okay and then pull the commercial.
This is similar to what Pepsi did, but it was an extra apology I would have
done.
When you have the chance to grab a soda, which soda will you
grab, Pepsi or another brand?
Works Cited
Hartlaub, Peter. “Sweet! America's Top 10 Brands of
Soda.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group,25 Mar. 2011,
www.nbcnews.com/id/42255151/ns/business-
us_business/t/sweet-americas-top-brands-soda/#.XjN722hKjIU.
“Mission and
Vision.” PepsiCo, Inc. Official Website, www.pepsico.com/about/mission-and-
vision.
Yahr, Emily.
“Kendall Jenner Cries over Pepsi Ad Backlash in 'Keeping Up With the
Kardashians'Premiere.” The
Washington Post, WP Company, 26
Feb.
2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-
entertainment/wp/2017/10/01/kendall-jenner-cries-over-pepsi-ad-backlash-in-
keeping-up-with-the-kardashians-premiere/.
