It seems every day there is a story about a bombing or a terrorist attack or a political conflict between leaders. The sad reality of the world is that there is a constant list of issues going on around us. The last thing we need to do is add needlessly to that list by trying to create our own issues out of nothing.
I’m talking about the newest Pepsi commercial. I’m sure most everyone has at least heard of the controversy it's caused, if not judged it for themselves. I was curious about what this commercial did to upset so many people, so I watched it in the quiet of my room one afternoon. Three different times. Each time searching for something that would warrant such a strong reaction from the American public. I was unable to find anything.
To be fair, it is as stupid as people are saying it is. From the nonsensical protest signs to the representation of every religion and nationality Pepsi could round up, the commercial seems to be trying to address every issue we’ve faced in America recently. Ironically, it is this over-extension of political and racial issues that has triggered people.
The complaints over this commercial focus mainly on how Kendall Jenner, who plays a rebellious model in the ad, fist bumps an African-American man and then hands a Pepsi to a policeman. People claim that these actions trivialize the racial tension America has been facing from the police force.
Can we please take a step back and realize that we are upset that a soda commercial tried to address a cultural and political problem? It didn’t even take a politically incorrect stance on the issue, it just didn’t present the issue in a “sensitive” enough way. There was nothing even remotely controversial enough in this commercial to warrant the ensuing outrage. I would even argue that there was nothing controversial in it at all. The public searched for and created the issue it has.
We have bigger fish to fry than a Pepsi commercial. Let’s focus our time and energy on the real chaos that is going on in the Middle East if we feel the need to express outrage on something. Or the political goings-on in our own country. Or honestly any other soda commercial that apparently wasn’t politically correct enough by our extremely sensitive standards. Come on, America. Grow up.