INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Madonna’s Unsurprising Opinion On Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi Ad

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 18:16 PST, Apr 11, 2017

Madonna took a swipe at Pepsi after the soft-drink giant pulled its controversial ad featuring Kendall Jenner, and the criticism was not at all surprising.

Madonna took to Instagram on Thursday to throw shade at Pepsi, just hours after the company pulled Kendall Jenner’s protest-themed commercial, which caused nation-wide uproar in the U.S.

The most recent Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner shows the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star joining a protest and giving a police officer a can of the soft-drink. As the police officer takes a sip, protesters cheer with victorious glee.

Describing the Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner, Madonna said in the Instagram post that this “sh*t just really doesn’t make sense,” and many critics seem to agree.

The Pepsi ad and Kendall Jenner are now facing a great deal of criticism for allegedly using imagery of anti-Donald Trump protests (the march shown in the clip features predominantly blue colors, which usually accompany pro-Democrats protests in the U.S.), as well as Black Lives Matter and pro-LGBTQIA+ movements.

After many critics, including Madonna, pointed a finger at the Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner and said it’s not nice to use protests to sell products, Pepsi pulled the ad.

This is not the first time Pepsi has pulled its controversial ads after causing a stir among TV viewers. In fact, Madonna herself was the victim of Pepsi pulling a 1989 commercial featuring the “Material Girl” singer nearly 30 years ago after the controversy surrounding the “Like A Prayer” music video.

Madonna, who has had a long-standing beef with Pepsi after the incident, seems to be still holding a grudge after all this time.

Madonna threw shade at Pepsi in a series of Instagram posts on Thursday. In one of the posts, the “Like a Prayer” singer featured a throwback photo of herself at the 1999 Grammys holding a can of Pepsi’s rival Coca-Cola.

Moments earlier, Madonna shared another post featuring the Pepsi commercial with Kendall Jenner, describing the clip as “sh*t,” and wrote a side note along with it.

“Side Note: My Pepsi commercial was pulled 30 years ago because I was kissing a black saint!”

In 1989, Madonna signed a $5 million endorsement deal with Pepsi and recorded a commercial for the soft-drink company. Everybody was excited to be seeing Madonna singing and dancing around in the Pepsi ad, but then the singer released her music video for “Like a Prayer” the following day, and that’s where the big trouble came.

The music video, which contained scenes of burning crosses and Madonna seducing a black saint, was condemned by multiple religious groups and even the Vatican, and generated controversy around the world. By some estimations, the commercial was seen by 250 million viewers in more than 40 countries, according to People magazine.

Pepsi pulled the controversial ad – just like it did recently with the commercial featuring Kendall Jenner – less than three months after its premiere on TV.

Pepsi even canceled Madonna’s endorsement deal to make sure people didn’t view Madonna’s own clips as part of the Pepsi marketing strategy. The controversy surrounding Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” music video was so intense that people even threatened to boycott Pepsi products.

Now, in 2017, the soft-drink giant again finds itself in hot water with the protest-themed commercial featuring Kendall Jenner.

Apart from Madonna, a number of other famous people slammed Pepsi and Kendall Jenner for the inappropriate ad. Even Martin Luther King, Jr.’s daughter lambasted the soft-drink company for the ad.

Although Pepsi eventually pulled the ad featuring Kendall Jenner, it attempted to defend the commercial in a statement, in which it said the ad bears “an important message to convey,” as it shows “people from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony.”

So who is right and who is wrong? Madonna vs Kendall Jenner. You be the judge!

[Featured Image by Jose Luis Magana/AP Images]

Share this article: Madonna’s Unsurprising Opinion On Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi Ad
madonna Kendall Jenner
More from Inquisitr