Late Night Talk Shows Rip Pepsi Over Controversial Kendall Jenner Ad
Pepsi has been catching a lot of flak recently for a commercial that premiered on Tuesday and has already been pulled from television. The commercial featured model and reality TV star Kendall Jenner joining a vague protest, then quelling the tension by handing a police officer a can of Pepsi. Some saw the commercial as trivializing and attempting to monetize protests and social injustice. And naturally, late night shows had a field day.
Of course, there were the jokes about it not being Coke, but Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show thought of another situation where Jenner could step in and fix things with a single can of Pepsi: The North Korean missile tests.
On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert picked apart the commercial bit by bit: The incredibly attractive, multicultural protesters; the vague, cliched signs, the absurd manner in which Jenner joins the protest — and, of course — the end, when Jenner gives the officer a Pepsi. Colbert also knocked the message following the commercial “Live For Now”, just slightly changing the way it’s said to completely change its meaning.
The Daily Show jokingly encouraged other companies to follow Pepsi’s lead and make ads exploiting serious social issues. Host Trevor Noah suggested Coca-Cola address climate change using its animated polar bears. He also suggested maybe we see a Mr. and Mr. Clean wedding.
And on Full Frontal, Samantha Bee introduced a new segment celebrating men — specifically, straight men in the Netherlands who are holding hands in public to fight homophobia after a brutal attack on a gay couple.
“What an uplifting form of protest,” Bee said. Then she added, “I cannot wait for Pepsi to appropriate it.”
Watch Steve Martin teach Stephen Colbert how to be a comic genius on The Late Show:
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