Pepsi pulls widely mocked ad featuring Kendall Jenner

Pepsi on Wednesday pulled an ad after it was widely mocked and criticized for appearing to trivialize protests for social justice causes.

“Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding,” the company said. “Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize.”

It said it was “removing the content and halting any further rollout.”

The ad shows Kendall Jenner, a member of the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” reality TV family, stepping away from a modeling shoot to join a crowd of smiling, young protesters. The protesters cheer after Jenner hands a can of Pepsi to a police officer, who takes a sip.

PepsiCo Inc. had previously said the ad was created by its in-house team and that it would “be seen globally across TV and digital” platforms.

It initially described the spot as featuring “multiple lives, stories and emotional connections that show passion, joy, unbound and uninhibited moments. No matter the occasion, big or small, these are the moments that make us feel alive.” That description was also derided on social media.

The Purchase, New York, company had stood by the ad late Tuesday. By Wednesday, it was apologizing to Jenner for putting her “in this position.”

Critics say the image of Jenner handing the officer a Pepsi evoked a photo of Black Lives Matter protester Ieshia Evans approaching an officer at a demonstration in Baton Rouge last year. Others criticized the protesters’ signs for being comically innocuous, with messages like “Join the Conversation” and heart and peace signs. The website Gothamist expressed a common sentiment online in calling the ad “gloriously tone-deaf.”

— Former digital holdout Garth Brooks is diving into the online music world once again, this time partnering with Amazon Music Unlimited. The country artist announced the deal to a few media members before his keynote address at the recent South by Southwest Music Conference.

“It allows you freedom that other digital companies do not,” he said of the new service, which he said offers more services than other digital platforms, including his own failed company, www. ghosttunes.com.

At one time, Brooks thought his own digital platform was the answer. As the singer began his comeback with 11 sold-out shows at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, in September 2014, he broke his boycott of online music by announcing Ghost Tune’s launch. He promised a service that would cater to artists and offer music to fans that could be played on any device. But that company was “officially closed” a few weeks ago.

“We just couldn’t do it on a scale” that could compete with other more established services, he said. The company offered digital downloads, but never got into streaming and soon “We were dead in the water,” eclipsed by other ventures such as Spotify and Apple that he had previously shunned because of issues of artist compensation and control.

As Ghost Tunes was folding, Brooks met with the CEOs of the other major streaming services. Spotify founder “Daniel Ek is a good guy who understands music and wants to help” but didn’t offer the variety of options that Amazon does. Apple “had its own rules and we would have to change to work for them. We’re not going to work with them.” Brooks did not mention Jay Z’s Tidal service as a contender for his business. Amazon Music Unlimited will offer streams, downloads and physical copies of artists’ music.

At the keynote, Brooks acknowledged that he’s not a total believer in a digital future quite yet. He is still an artist focused on albums rather than singles, and said that artist and songwriter compensation remains a central concern. “For music’s sake, for our sake, we must reinvest in the songwriter,” he said.

Though he’s embracing a streaming service for the moment, he still has his doubts. “How many songs do you love that you didn’t love at first?” he asked. With streaming and voice-activated personal programming such as that offered by Amazon how does a listener “discover what you don’t already know? … I fear for new stuff, different sounding stuff.”