Stephen Colbert, Madonna, And More Stars Skewer Kendall Jenner’s Disastrous Pepsi Ad
Stephen Colbert has a few words for Pepsi—and they’re along the lines of “Have a Coke and a smile.” Colbert has been extremely vocal about the soft drink company’s controversial—and now-pulled—ad that starred Kendall Jenner. The protest-themed ad was brutally slammed on social media for trivializing today’s anti-Donald Trump resistance and real life movements like Black Lives Matter.
Stephen Colbert devoted a segment to his late night show to dissecting Jenner’s ad, which he dubbed “Attractive Lives Matter.”
“We have a deeply divided nation,” Stephen said on his late night show. “But today, it seems that everyone has come together to join the protest against the new protest ad from Pepsi. It starts with a throng of beautiful, multi-ethnic people protesting in the streets of, I’m gonna guess Newport, Rhode Island. So far, we don’t know what has caused all of America’s hot extras to take to the streets. But I’m guessing it’s a protest for ‘Attractive Lives Matter.'”
“But today, it seems that everyone has come together to join the protest against the new protest ad from Pepsi. It starts with a throng of beautiful, multi-ethnic people protesting in the streets of, I’m gonna guess Newport, Rhode Island. So far, we don’t know what has caused all of America’s hot extras to take to the streets. But I’m guessing it’s a protest for ‘Attractive Lives Matter.'”
Kendall Jenner's Pepsi Ad Pulled After Accusations Of Trivializing Black Lives Matter https://t.co/gAkY14g283 pic.twitter.com/6X9Ui4jZMW
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) April 6, 2017
Colbert pointed to the generic signs that the gorgeous models in the Pepsi spot were holding, calling the “Join the Conversation” banner the “most corporate message of all time,” and saying the signage should have instead read: “We are all the core demographic.”
“At first, this was a movement without a leader until the protest route just happened to pass by Kendall Jenner, who was doing a fashion shoot for, apparently, aluminum siding,” Stephen went on to say.
Colbert joked about how Kendall made eye contact with “a cute boy who brought his cello to a protest,” before she whipped off her blonde wig to reveal her dark brown hair. Colbert also zoomed in on the assistant the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star hands her wig to in the spot, saying, the woman is clearly “not thrilled about being Kendall’s wig caddie.”
Colbert’s analysis of the now-yanked ad also addressed Kendall’s “ultimate sacrifice” of wiping off her lipstick before handing a can of the famous soft drink to a member of “the world’s least intimating police force.”
Pepsi drops Kendall Jenner ad accused of mocking 'black lives' protests https://t.co/omwBbxx4UR pic.twitter.com/sZ7fSk9Vei
— NDTV (@ndtv) April 6, 2017
“They’re also extremely attractive,” Colbert warned.
“Watch out, Kendall, those unarmed cops might start stripping!”
After showing a clip of the hunky cop taking a drink, which caused the beautiful protesters to stop what they’re doing and erupt into cheers, Colbert cheered along: “Yay, we did it! Yes, we can…of Pepsi!”
Stephen Colbert ended his spiel with a hilarious riff on the commercial’s tagline.
“‘Live — for now,’ especially if you’re Pepsi’s marketing department, because I don’t think you guys are going to be there for long,” Stephen said.
Upon first seeing the commercial, Stephen Colbert initially tweeted about how “unrealistic” it was.
“This Pepsi ad is so unrealistic,” Stephen wrote. “Those protesters would have been Dr. Pepper Sprayed.”
This Pepsi ad is so unrealistic. Those protesters would have been Dr. Pepper Sprayed. https://t.co/oNjjtm6eFu
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) April 5, 2017
Stephen Colbert wasn’t the only celeb to slam Pepsi’s tone-deaf ad. Madonna, who’s had her own issues with the soft drink giant, posted a throwback snap of herself drinking can of the rival soft drink brand, Coca-Cola.
In addition to Stephen Colbert, vocal celebs like Judd Apatow, Lena Dunham, and Patton Oswalt also gave their two cents on the ill-fated ad. And actor-comedian John Fugelsang may have said it best: “Pepsi just made the commercial of the year for Coke.”
J. Edgar Hoover takes aim from the grassy knoll. The motorcade approaches. He fires. JFK raises a #Pepsi to his lips, blocks the bullet.
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) April 5, 2017
"Guess we should have set the commercial at a protest outside an abortion clinic." — Pepsi executives
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) April 5, 2017
I could spend the rest of my life trying and not even come close to making something as funny as this Pepsi ad. https://t.co/C5qG1trHKg
— Judd Apatow ?? (@JuddApatow) April 5, 2017
that Pepsi commercial was genius troll move of the year, 4 days from April Fools? we talkin/meming bout em too? #WellPlayed
— Plug 5. (@questlove) April 5, 2017
Assuming everything that can be said about faux-test Pepsi ad has been said so I'm just gonna go with this: it didn't make me want Pepsi
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) April 5, 2017
Pepsi just made the commercial of the year for Coke.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) April 4, 2017
While the controversial ad was promptly pulled just one day after its disastrous debut, Pepsi defended the spot in a statement posted on the company’s website: “This is a global ad that reflects people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony, and we think that’s an important message to convey.”
You can see Stephen Colbert’s play-by-play analysis of Kendall Jenner’s controversial commercial below.
[Featured Image by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images]
