Kendall Jenner was in in no mood to face the paparazzi as she stepped out of LAX on Friday. The 21 year old model and reality TV star is still recovering from the backlash generated from the controversial Pepsi commercial she starred in.
As US Weekly reports, Jenner kept her face hidden behind her hand and a pair of dark sunglasses. She still kept things slightly fashionable though with a leopard print overcoat, black leather pants and a black shirt.
Jenner has been severely criticized for her starring role in a Pepsi commercial which seemed to minimize the protest movements that have sprung up across the United States within the past couple of years.
In the clip, Jenner is doing her modelling thing in front of a street where a large protest is happening. She locks eyes with one of the protesters who, with a nod, encourages Kendall to join the march. She whips off her blond wig immediately after and hands it to an assistant, who happens to be a black woman, changes into a nifty denim number and joins the protest.
It looks like all of this protesting makes her thirsty, so of course she grabs a can of Pepsi. But we soon find out the Pepsi isn’t for her. It’s for one of the police officers. Kendall gives the police officer and the crowd cheers because… well, who really knows why at this point.
Omg @GatorsEite23 made me notice this happens in the @KendallJenner @pepsi Ad. #SaturdayMorning pic.twitter.com/UGBJ7FbvEj
— Thomas Kennedy (@tomaskenn) April 8, 2017
Kendall Jenner is “traumatized” by the backlash over her Pepsi ad https://t.co/H3B82aP9Em pic.twitter.com/fBzUKqiZWK
— Jezebel (@Jezebel) April 8, 2017
Here’s what went wrong with Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner ad https://t.co/TlQjIfAl5x pic.twitter.com/R8bXJHHLSH
— Bloomberg (@business) April 8, 2017
As we alluded to earlier the Pepsi ad was not well received by the public and Kendall was not spared from the social media backlash. Many of the tweets satirically suggested that civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King could have avoided being terrorized by the police if they had just had a Pepsi on them at the time. Even MLK’s daughter Bernice King got in on the action.
If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi . pic.twitter.com/FA6JPrY72V
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) April 5, 2017
The Pepsi Kendall Jenner ad could only get made in a culture where employees can’t be honest. Someone knew it was a mistake but couldn’t say
— Jon Acuff (@JonAcuff) April 8, 2017
It’s not just you: Advertising insiders think Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner ad was a disaster https://t.co/Xzr1UhVsEu pic.twitter.com/DxE23IsRWf
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) April 6, 2017
Pepsi eventually had to pull the ad in response to the overwhelmingly negative feedback. They also offered an apology to Kendall Jenner. Notably left out of the apology were the protesters who the company tried to capitalize on in their ill-advised ad.
“Pepsi was trying to protect a global message of unity, peace and understanding,” the company said in their official statement. “Clearly, we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”
After tone-deaf protest ad, @pepsi takes responsibility with authentic apology.? pic.twitter.com/ZGFdgdJnkr
— maureengarrity (@maureengarrity) April 7, 2017
Kendall Jenner had not tweeted since the release of the ad. There are claims that she has been “devastated” by the response .
“She had such high hopes for it,” an insider source told Hollywood Life , “and now she’s terrified she will never work again or become a laughing stock.”
Obviously a huge campaign with Pepsi is a huge opportunity for a model, even one who is already famous like Kendall Jenner. But perhaps Kendall should have shared the brief to one of her “woke” friends, if she has any, so that they could have told her to pass on the job.
“The world sees her as this glamorous, sophisticated, jet-setting woman, but she’s only 21 and she’s very sensitive,” the insider continued. “This has been very painful and embarrassing to her.”
Do you think that Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi ad will ruin her modelling career for good? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Kendall Jenner Pepsi Ad: Kendall ‘Very Upset’ And Her Career Might Be In Trouble [Opinion]
[Featured Image by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Marc Jacobs]
