Problem Summary Statement 

In April 2017, PepsiCo released a global marketing film titled "Live for Now" featuring model Kendall Jenner, triggering an immediate and severe public backlash. The advertisement depicted Jenner leaving a high-fashion photo shoot to join a generic street protest, eventually resolving a tense standoff by handing a Pepsi to a police officer. This campaign launched during a period of heightened social unrest in the United States, specifically following numerous Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality. Critics and the public quickly identified that the ad’s climax, a wealthy celebrity "solving" systemic conflict with soda, minimized the gravity of real-world activism and inappropriately mirrored iconic imagery of protester Ieshia Evans. Because Pepsi’s in-house content creators developed the project, it lacked the external diverse vetting necessary to identify these cultural insensitivities. Consequently, Pepsi pulled the ad within 24 hours and issued a formal apology for missing the mark. Ultimately, the "Live for Now" campaign serves as a definitive cautionary tale, proving that failing to respect the socio-political context of an audience can instantly transform a message of unity into a brand-damaging display of cultural tone-deafness.