How long before Pepsi cracks open a protest in Seattle?
Apr 5, 2017, 5:46 PM
Despite Pepsi pulling its controversial Kendall Jenner commercial relatively quickly, it has nevertheless sparked outrage over how the company depicted protest culture. And it didn’t take long before people in the Pacific Northwest began using Pepsi products to make their message heard.
For review, here’s the commercial:
Some of the more benign criticism online believed the commercial to be well-intentioned, but tone-deaf. The most pointed comments called the ad blatantly exploitative, as protest culture — with the growth of Black Lives Matter and the mobilization of left-wing activists who “resist” the Trump administration — experiences a renewed sense of prevalence.
But a protester in Portland took things a step further.
The Oregonian reports that a “frequent protester” handed Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler a can of Pepsi during a city council meeting. The defiant act, which led to the protester’s arrest, preceded other activist acts which, according to the Oregonian, included silences, poetry, and “other new protest tactics” that have been used to demonstrate against fatal police shootings, homelessness, and racism.
If Portland activists are using Pepsi as an outlet for protest, then it’s only a matter of time before someone in Seattle does something similar.
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