Kendall Jenner signed on to a Pepsi commercial that swept across the nation as a blatant controversy. Pepsi most recently pulled their ad from the internet and from being aired on television. Kendall Jenner interestingly has kept quiet after the internet went angry over the disillusioned campaign went viral.
What I find most interesting is that the backlash is less on Kendall Jenner and more on Pepsi. In most articles the responsibility of the controversy is on Pepsi and never on Kendall Jenner. It seems as if, within the eye of the public, she has taken on a hyper-sexualized role that is never associated with any sort of brain power. The public has assumed that her signing on to this campaign is because she did not know any better and that she is powerless in her lack of awareness and naivety. Often times, the Jenners and the Kardashians slip out of controversies because of their association with being airheads.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/business/kendall-jenner-pepsi-ad.html?_r=0
I had the exact same reaction to the news of the Pepsi ad. Immediately after, I looked through Kendall's social media accounts - Twitter, Instagram - to see what she had to say about the scandal. She didn't post anything. Across media, it's really interesting the way the scandal is phrased - it's not Kendall's Pepsi ad, it's Pepsi's ad that happened to have Kendall Jenner in it. While models often take on a "pawn" role in commercials, it is implicit that their representation of the product implies their support of the product's implications. You wouldn't see Donald Trump in a commercial about recycling. Kendall didn't just show up one day to the Pepsi set with headphones in and pose for a few minutes of pictures. Such a high-profile, big budget commercial goes through a lot of red tape, and in consideration all of her many successful moves thus far, it is shocking that nobody in Kendall's management foresaw its bad taste.
ReplyDeleteI also find it very interesting that Kendall has not commented on the scandal. I read an article that stated that all press was not allowed to ask Kendall any questions about the commercial during press commercials she did at Coachella. I am sure Kendall was given an overview of the commercial so her decision to participate does reflect an inherent support of the content of the commercial. I wonder if this scandal will have a long-term effect on her image.
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