Pepsi Commercial Case Study

In the case of the banned Pepsi commercial, the corporation failed to reach their goal profitability and the goal of encouraging global unity. The commercial displayed the protests to be a celebration of fun and not a stage to demand social equality and political fairness. The commercial was accused of using social injustices to create a profitable revenue for the corporation. The corporation crossed the line which caused the commercial to become a political and social conflict. Although, the commercial was banned it still affected many people and caused a decrease in marketing sales. One of the major issues with the commercial was the scene, that replicated the Black Lives Matter protest when a Black American lady that was arrested as she …show more content…
Clearly, we missed the mark and apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”A business should always be very mindful that they are not appropriating in their advertising to the public. The public was offended by the manipulative tactics used by the corporation in efforts to profit from social injustice. This inappropriate and unethical behavior by the corporation caused the corporation’s integrity to be jeopardized due to the content of the advertisement. The public relations team in the Pepsi corporation failed in several ways, they did not uphold the pillars of ethics. In making decisions, the book suggested questions a practitioner must consider such as “Will these actions harm others?” and what is the viewed concept of “fairness and social responsibility” in the situation? (Parsons, P. p. 20-21) The public relations team should have provided guidance to the situation and properly evaluate the suggested advertisement with a clear sense of values. Pepsi’s public relations team failed at being socially …show more content…
For example: The advertisement could have included Pepsi gives to non-violent protests in which would still bring profit. After the incident, the media should have been notified of an apology worldwide to show true admiration. Public relations practitioners are held to a higher standard and should handle business accordingly. The PRSA key values are honesty, independence, loyalty and fairness. Public relations practitioners must be socially responsible and represent the company that gratifies the public and benefits the company. The PRSA’s final solution in the text brings to value a case in point. Pepsi’s public relations team should have highly considered the key value that fairness and social responsibility instead of being too concerned with the bottom dollar. The PR team attempted to address the issue by reaching out to the public. They submitted an apology to Kendall Jenner, but there was no public apology to the real protestors around the world. This would have been an ideal time for the public relations team to create a campaign that upholds social and ethical values. The ethical conflict that is considered is the motivation behind the company. Pepsi has a history of helping