When controversy calls, the internet is quick to answer. The latest controversy in question is Pepsi’s ad that was posted the evening of April 4 and features Kendall Jenner. Jenner is a familiar name, associated with the Kardashian family, and her presence in the ad has come under scrutiny. In the ad, Jenner joins a group of marchers who, according to BBC News, are part of a “heavily policed demonstration.” Jenner then hands a can of Pepsi to a somber police officer, and after he takes a sip, cheers begin to erupt. The new ad, regardless of its intent to “unify” people, is ignorant of the severity of our country’s current racial and socio-political contexts. Its allusion to demonstrations, such as the Black Lives Matter Movement, severely underplays the long-lasting struggle behind the movement. Additionally, by making Jenner, a white woman, the leader of the group and the one capable of “bridging the divide,” Pepsi misses the mark in terms of showing whose struggle racial inequality belongs to.

Following the ad’s release, Pepsi received ridicule from the general public, as well as from notable figures on social media. Described as “tone deaf,” the ad was eventually removed by Pepsi less than 24 hours after its release, and for good reason. As long as the media is able to release ads such as the one done by Pepsi, people will continue to misunderstand both the historical and contemporary relevance of the Black Lives Matter Movement. That is why it is crucial that we respond in the way that the internet did to the ad, making known that it is impossible to boil down a long history of inequality to simply handing the oppressor a can of soda — especially when it is done by someone who has not and will never face discrimination on the basis of her skin color.

Moving forward, it is hard to say how we should fix the ignorance that is made apparent through these types of ads beyond engaging in open dialogue. The problem that I see most frequently, though, is that there are people who are unwilling to listen or believe that the tensions could be resolved as easily as Pepsi presented in their commercial if black and brown people “stopped causing trouble.” However, it boils down to what a person is willing to acknowledge not only about our country’s history but also power privileges that are readily given to certain groups of people over others. Therefore, until everyone is capable of acknowledging that privilege continues to be prevalent in our society, there is little that can be done besides spinning our wheels and trying to inform.