In the wake of aggressive marketing prompted by tough competition among companies, analysts have focused their ethical practices in advertisements. In definition, ethics is a combination of moral principles that influence a person’s behavior or how a group of people executes an activity while advertising is a business’ art of communicating with its clients (Schlegelmilch " Öberseder, 2010). Despite the naturally need among enterprises to enhance brand recognition, sales, and profitability, an advertisement must be ethical. In other words, it must be based on true facts, decent, and based on social positivity. An advertisement should not be based on prejudices of certain groups in the global community. Given that there is no single definition of ethical behavior since it depends on the context, some companies have aired visual texts that have triggered controversies among the audience. One such firm is Pepsi Company, which is not new to controversies. In 2017, Pepsi Company released a two-minute short film with the title “Live for Now” that had two possible perspectives views. While its intended message was apparent the clip had multiple interpretations. While a common view of the “Live for Now” short film is that is ethical since it projects a global message of social responsibility, peace, and unity it can be interpreted as unethical since it makes light of serious issues, especially those faced by people of color and Muslims.
Summary of the “Live for Now” by PepsiCo
The Pepsi commercial short film stars American fashion top model Kendall Jenner and a group of protesters, and Skip Marley’s song “Lions.” The two-minute video starts by showing a hand opening a can of Pepsi and later focuses on a young man of Asian descent who is playing the cello on a rooftop (Sangh, (2017). The next scene shows a city before showing a musician singing while sweat drips his face. Soon after the soundtrack of the song “Lion” by Sip Marley starts, the short film shows a crowd of young protesters who display placards with peace and unity messages such as “join the conversation” while others show the V sign. The most notable protester is a Black Muslim who has white Islamic robe. The next view shows a young professional photographer clad in a hijab trying to sort out her print pictures with a red marker. In a different scene, Jenner is in a photo-shoot session but is constantly distracted by the protesters who are passing nearby. The cellist, who is now not on a rooftop but on a balcony, also notices the protesters who are moving through the street like a wave. As the crowd passes, the cellist sips a Pepsi drink. Two women below the balcony are seen drinking Pepsi and taking selfies as the crowd passes behind them. The next scene focuses back on the female photographer wearing a hijab. Although she is frustrated, her face brightens up when she notices the crowd passing outside her house. As a result, she takes her camera and joins the protesters. Also, Kendell Jenner abruptly abandons her photographer, gives her white wig to a Black woman, and marches towards the protesters while her brown hair bounces in the wind. The camera switches to shows a line of stern policemen ready to confront the protesters. However, Jenner, who is now in a casual outfit, takes a can of Pepsi drink, steps forward, and gives the drink to one of the police officers. As soon as the officer drinks the Pepsi and smiles, the crowd starts to cheer and hug each other in a celebratory mood. As the protester walk in a sense of triumph, the commercial displays the words “Live Bolder,” “Live Louder, “Live for Now.”
The Ethical Aspect of the Commercial
The common view of the Pepsi’s commercial “Live for Now” is that it is ethical since it is true, inspiring, and promotes social unity. According to the producers of the “Live for Now” short film, the primary purpose was to spread global messages of peace, love, and unity. Originally, PepsiCo’s intent was not only to entice its audience but also enhance its standing as a socially conscious company that understands the people’s lives and challenges. The organization’s marketing team was confident of the ethicalness of the advert since it promoted social responsibility. In other words, it showed individuals in a positive light. In its advert, people are able to unite and stand for a common cause despite their religious, racial, gender, professional, and age differences. As earlier stated, the “Live for Now” short film shows: a young man and lady in Islamic attires to allude to religion; a professional photographer, cellist, and model to show a diversity of interests’ and Caucasians and people of African and Asian descent to show differences in culture and race (Watercutter, 2017). Despite their differences, the characters participate in a protest to achieve a common goal: ease the hostilities in the community. The protesters who are in a celebratory mood encourage others to join them.
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The commercial addresses the issue of the conflict between civilians and police, which is evident in most countries of the world. Kendall Jenner crosses the division between citizens and the law enforcers when she takes a Pepsi drink to a policeman. The officer is surprised and cannot resist this sign of positivity. Overall, Pepsi’s short film is ethical since it creates awareness of issues affecting communities, highlights diversity, and empowers people to rise above their differences and unite.
Unethicalness of Pepsi’s Commercial
Au contraire to the producers of the “Live for Now” who considered it ethical, critics stated that the commercial was unethical and in bad taste. More specifically, opponents of the commercial opined that the ad “made light of serious social issues.” More specifically, according to critics, Pepsi's short film makes a mockery of the Black Lives Matter and Women’s Marches movements. The divergent explanation of the commercial arises as soon as the protesters emerge. Not only are they carrying placards with meaningless phrases such as “join the conversation” the protesters are in a celebratory mood. The youngsters are hugging, clapping, laughing, smiling, and giving each other high-fives. Undoubtedly, this ad displays the complete opposite of the real world experience of protesting. The climax of the commercial displays others in a bad light. Kendall Jenner, a white woman, removes her wig and throws it to a black woman. This is a racial prejudice against people of color. Later, the model approaches a policeman and gives him a drink in a scene that closely resembles that of Leshia Evans, who stand firm against police brutality during a protest in Baton Rouge. Overall, the ad is unethical since it downplays the sacrifices that people have made in participating in protests.
< http://metro.co.uk/2017/04/05/pepsi-defend-kendall-jenner-advert-after-accusations-of-disrespecting-black-lives-matter-movement-6555523/>
In Conclusion
While companies have an obligation to adhere to ethical advertising, there is a thin line between what is right or wrong. What may be ethical to one part of the audience may be unethical to another. Pepsi’s “Live for Now” ad is one of the commercials with multiple ethical perspectives. On the one hand, the producers of the short filmed purposed to reflect on the daily struggles of the world populaces while at the same time encourage people to rise above their differences and unite. Au contraire, critics termed the advert as unethical since it mocks the social movements such Black Lives Matter and downplays the issue of police brutality. It dismisses, seems to dismiss the importance of protests and replaces these struggles with a can of a soft drink.
References
Christians, C. G., Richardson, K. B., Fackler, M., Kreshel, P., " Woods, R. H. (2015). Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning, CourseSmart eTextbook. Routledge.
Sangh, K. (2017). Business Ethics in Pepsi’s Advertisement. Karan Saghi. Retrieved from < https://blogs.ubc.ca/karansanghi/2017/09/12/business-ethics-in-pepsis-advertisement/>
Schlegelmilch, B. B., " Öberseder, M. (2010). Half a century of marketing ethics: Shifting perspectives and emerging trends. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(1), 1-19.
Watercutter, A. (2017). Peps’s Kendall Jenner Ad was So Awful it Did the Impossible: It United the Internet. Wired. Retrieved from < https://www.wired.com/2017/04/pepsi-ad-internet-response/>
