I am watching the Super Bowl and like most Americans I am anxious to see the commercials. So what does Pepsi present us with? The angry black woman that kicks her husband, puts his head in a pie and stuffs soap in his mouth. Way to work a stereotype Pepsi, but they don’t stop there. When her black man is finally doing something right like drinking a Pepsi Max he has to stare at a white girl and then ole angry aims a can at her husband but hits the white woman and they both run like children. I think I’ll go get a Pepsi Max.
-
Live Feed
politics from the eyes of an ebony mom 
Comments
What bothers me about the angry black woman Pepsi Max commercial is the impression it gives that it’s ok to pick on white people. Let’s reverse the role and put a white couple hitting a black woman with a soda can and running off, leaving her in pain on the ground. The president of Pepsi would be apologizing to the entire country. The inner city streets would like Egypt’s current events. I wonder if President Obama would invite the advertising department of Pepsi to the White House to have a beer and discuss the ignorance of America. It also does no favor to black people. Presenting them as the type of people to injure someone and run away instead of helping.
Also, the second Pepsi Max commercial portrayed men as stupid buffoons who think no deeper then sex and eating. I wonder how many parents had to explain what “I want to sleep with her” means. This years Super Bowl Pepsi Max commercials will remind me to never purchase a Pepsi product.
an additional, excellent point. Not only is she white, but also blonde–another “strike” against her–and probably has money, else why would she be jogging in the park, right?
This commercial was/is sick on so many levels.
I thought this commercial was bad beyond belief. It was wrong on multiple levels.
I don’t mind the commercial at all. Its ANTI GHETTO woman. Not anti Black woman. Let’s just say Black woman: Oprah Michelle Obama, H. Tubman, etc.. Ghetto: Queen Latifa, Moesha, that type mess that keeps black women down.. The Truth will never be popular.. Sorry..
As soon as I saw this ad I knew there was going to be problems. I agree with John (above). Whether white or black, there are many reasons this commercial does not represent either party well. And yes, if it was a white couple that hit a black woman, the world would be in dismay right now. And the fact they ran, makes blacks look violent and irresponsible for their actions. If all parties in the commercial would have been black it might have been a little better, but still would have made blacks look violent and irresponsible by running. I can’t beleive that this commercial even made it past editing, as Im sure Pepsi has a diverse group of employees that would have edited this first.
HATED THIS
Wow, this is my first time seeing the commercial. The only comment I have is that advertising executives, writers, etc. know what they’re doing when they put these ads out. They know the reactions they will get from them and how to put a deeper meaning out there. I agree with Carrie too.
I disagree that ad executives and writers “know what they are doing” and “know the reactions they will get”. That is why they have focus groups of people who are not in the ad business. Someone here didn’t get a focus group involved, or if they did it was a lame one.
I must confess, when I saw this ad I said to my sons: “Guys, do NOT bring someone like that home!” I think Black women are sensitive to this type of portrayal because it hits close to home. In the movie “The Hangover”, there is a similar character (she’s white) but I doubt there are gobs of white women who took umbrage at the character.
As far as beaning the white woman with the can, the jury’s out as far as I am concerned. Quite possibly it’s an issue because it’s another sensitive spot for Black women: Black men choosing to date non-Black women. I didn’t see it that way, I saw it as a “How dare you look at another woman while I’M here?!” kinda thing.
Yeah, I got this too and I’m a white guy. Holy cow. Could they have hit more stereotypes—and ugly ones at that? I can’t imagine the meeting they had when they came up with this one. It makes me wonder if any African American was in the room when it was conceived. I rather doubt it but then, “group think” does have a way of taking over in meetings in general but in corporations in specific.
What an awful, awful, ignorant, ugly commercial.
Kudos, Pepsi! You came up with the “Wort Super Bowl Commercial for 2011” Great job! (not)
How about the more important and crude commercial where the couple is on what appears to be a 1st date, and Girl is thinking “Does he have money” Does he want Kids?” etc., and they she show the Man thinking “I want to sleep with her I want to sleep with her, I want to sleep with her..” THAT IS WAY more upsetting that any racial issues, I mean seriously, why is PEPSI promoting sexual promiscuity when there were PLENTY OF YOUNG CHILDREN AND TEENS WATCHING THE SUPERBOWL ???? CRAPPY MESSAGE PEPSI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The people who made this commercial, the people who aired it and the big shots at Pepsi are big A holes fore having this commercial aired during a family viewing event!
I sent my comments directly to Pepsi and their response is listed below. I hope you will write them to let them know that this commerical was insulting! Contact them at http://www.pepsi.com – and look for the comments section. Please – they need to know that this “angry black woman”commercial was offensive for not only women but men too. More importantly, it is saying to society that violence against women is ok and…. if you run fast enough – you can get away.
Thank you for contacting us at PepsiCo to share your sincere thoughts.
The commercial you cited was one of the winning consumer-created submissions in our web-based Crash the Super Bowl promotion. We apologize if you were upset or offended by this consumer submission, and we will share your feedback with our marketing teams so they can be aware of your concerns.
Thanks again for taking the time to write.
Dennis Dowd
Consumer Relations Representative
Thank you Maxine. I am LOL @ the standard reply from Pepsi Co. customer service dept. And still I feel good that not only did I send off my comments, I will personally boycott all Pepsi products. I will feel good as long as I know that I am speaking with my wallet.
I find the commercial offensive, but the physically abusive relationship dwarfs any racial component here–that part would have offended me just as much had the couple been white. Physical violence in a relationship shouldn’t be tolerated, period–it isn’t cute because the woman is the one being violent. Reverse THOSE roles so it was the man being abusive..would *anyone* find that version amusing?
Let your voices be heard DO NOT LET PEPSI GET AWAY WITH THIS!!!!
SILENT VOICE ADDS TO THE DISEASE…
http://cr.pepsi.com/usen/pepsiusen.cfm?date=20110209
thank you for the link Namaste. You are so right, when people complain on the message board and not take it to the source, nothing will get done about it! Thank you!
Or maybe everyone’s just reading too much into is? Lets pretend all 3 people were asian. Who cares? The only people turning all this into a race issue is you folks looking for a race issue. Did pepsi miss on a try to be funny? Sure. But none of this is “domestic violence” . . .”officer, my husband took my burger and gently placed a bar of soap in my mouth” no. Not gonna fly. Everyone in this country needs to get over this boo-hoo poor me mentality and lighten up.
@Blue82, apparently you haven’t been the victim of domestic violence or racism. It’s easy to say get over it when it isn’t happening to you.
Just wondering, do you tell Jews to get over the holocaust, fellow Americans to get over 9/11 or soldiers to get over combat?
Thank you so much for this blog entry. Namaste, thank you for the contact info to Pepsi. I as well as others are making our disapproval known. As a professional black woman with a degree in business and background in business communications, marketing, this ad was beyond offensive hitting on every stereotype and generalization intended to marginalize and demonize black women, emasculate black men, and uphold the white woman as the ideal beauty in the a seemingly benign way. I am also in an interracial marriage and even my white husband, a journalist caught on to what the subtle context of the ad. This ad nearly ruined my appetite.
I’ve also preferred Pepsi over Coca Cola, but I’d rather drink tap water than drink another Pepsi product. Pepsi can quietly pull their ad all they want but the damage is done. It seems like it’s open season on demonizing black women of every hue in commericals these days. Believe me, I am trained to recognize patterns, no matter how subtle.
Now had this ad featured a muslim, asian, hispanic, or any other minority couple in which every single subtle and negative stereotype was in this ad, there would be a greater backlash in the media. I am sick and tired of having to explain why this is offensive to black women.
To those of your who have suddenly been afflicted with “selective amnesia” as to why this would is offensive to black women, then there is no hope for you as a rationale and intelligent person. Don’t insult ones intelligence as to why the dynamics of racism, blackface minstrel images, and other negative stereotypes that shape the audiences perception of a certain group haven’t been used to case negative perceptions of blacks selling products and services. Please let’s not play dumb suddenly and act like this country doesn’t have a problem with race and demonizing black women especially.