In 2017, Kendall Jenner was part of a Pepsi ad that apparently sought to ease racial tensions. The tone-deaf ad may have come and gone but now racial tensions in America have escalated because of the passing of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.
Jenner is now coming forward, according to cheatsheet.com, to be an ally and not just to offer Pepsi.
The 2017 ad begins with someone opening a can of Pepsi. Throughout the video, several people hold signs that read “Join the Conversation” or that have peace symbols.
Jenner appears with Pepsi and, by offering each a can, eases police and protester tensions.
Many criticised the ad, saying that it overlooked the Black Lives Matter cause. The beverage company then withdrew the ad. In a statement, Pepsi said it was trying to highlight a global message of unity, peace and understanding but that there was a misunderstanding and it apologised.
In an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Jenner talked about the issue. She said that she trusted everyone and the teams responsible for the ad. When she saw the reaction and what people had to comment on it, Jenner saw what went wrong. She felt stuck and did not know what to do, so she “completely shut down”.
Jenner shared with her sister Kim Kardashian West that she felt bad. She added that she felt bad that anyone was ever turned off and that it was taken in such a wrong way. Jenner said that she had no idea how she was going to recover from it.
With the Black Lives Matter protests becoming more prominent, she is now vowing to be an ally. Taking to Instagram, she wrote to her followers to keep researching, reading and educating in order to be better allies.
Over the past few days, the reality star has felt angry and hurt like so many. She added that she will never know the fear and pain that the black community goes through every day but she knows that nobody should have to live in fear all the time.
Jenner acknowledged her white privilege and promised to continue to educate herself on how she could help. She said that ranting on social media could not be all that everyone did in order to repair the system. Jenner said that everyone had to take action off social media and it was time to have those uncomfortable conversations with people and mainly with ourselves. /TISG