Kendall Jenner is said to be “devastated” after receiving backlash for appearing in Pepsi’s latest advert, according to reports.
The advert, featuring Kendall, was pulled after social media users accused the company of trivialising police brutality protests and movements such as Black Lives Matter.
In the commercial, the model can be seen leaving a photoshoot to join protesters calling for love and peace, before handing a can of Pepsi to a police officer as a peace offering. The officer smiles and the crowd cheers, but in reality – the ad attracted the exact opposite reaction.
“This is the first controversial campaign she has been involved with. Even though she had nothing to do with the production and the message of the campaign, she will be blamed for this since she is the face,” a source told ET Online.
Taking the blame: Kendall has received backlash for starring in the controversial Pepsi ad | YOUTUBE
“This is not a career breaker for her. The original intent of the commercial was to mirror all the global protests trying to make this world a more equal place for everyone.
“But they shouldn’t have had a celebrity face tied to it if they wanted to try and send a strong message like this,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Kendall is yet to comment about the controversial ad publicly.
Just hours after releasing the advert, Pepsi took it down and admitted that they had “missed the mark”.
“We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further roll-out,” they said in a statement. “We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.”
