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Here are the funniest reactions to Kendall Jenner's terrible 'woke' Pepsi ad

No. Just, no.

Patrick Kulp

on April 4, 2017

Pepsi has an answer for the millions of Americans fearful that the Trump Administration might take away their basic rights and crucial services.

Hint: It involves a can of Pepsi.

The soda giant's latest ad centers on a political march full of millennials -- the generically trendy, stock-photo-looking sort of millennials that only exist in commercials. Among them, for some reason, is Kendall Jenner.

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What exactly are these young people protesting? It's unclear.

Judging from the signs scattered throughout the crowd, they want world peace, and they'd like people to "join the conversation" -- a message that only buzzword-happy marketers would ever imagine anyone actually imparting with a straight face.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

There's also a guy madly playing the cello on a building rooftop and a subplot about a hijab-clad photographer thrown in for good measure. The whole ordeal is set to the reggae song "Lions," by Bob Marley's grandson, Skip Marley.

The cringeworthy climax comes when Jenner breaks ranks to offer one of the riot cops a can of Pepsi. The gesture is met with cheers, and the photographer happens to be perfectly poised to snap a shot.

Maybe, all it takes to heal America's gaping political chasms is a sugary artificial beverage.

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People on Twitter responded with a lot of dark humor.

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A lot of people were just dumbstruck by the sheer incompetence of the people behind the ad.

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Other people had more serious comments.

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Advertisers have taken this faux-political route more often lately as record numbers of citizens take to the streets. Saturday Night Live even mocked the practice in a recent sketch.

But Pepsi's new ad takes the cake for the most tone-deaf display of hollow "woke"-ness yet.

The company isn't backing down ... yet. (Its original response to the furor: "It's an import [sic] message to convey").

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We'll see how long that lasts.

Update, April 5, 10:30 a.m. PST:

Pepsi said Wednesday it would remove the ad from its social channels and stop running it on TV.

You can still watch it here:

Topics Advertising

Patrick Kulp

Patrick Kulp is a Business Reporter at Mashable. Patrick covers digital advertising, online retail and the future of work. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a degree in political science and economics, he previously worked at the Pacific Coast Business Times.