May 1 (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc pulled an online ad for
Mountain Dew on Wednesday after criticism from bloggers that the
spot embraced racial stereotypes and made light of violence
toward women.
The ad was developed by African-American hip-hop artist
Tyler the Creator and shows a battered white woman on crutches
trying to pick out her assailant from a police lineup featuring
five African-American men and a goat.
As she scans the lineup, the goat threatens her: “Keep ya
mouth shut,” “snitches get stitches, fool” and “I’ma get outta
here I’ma do you up.”
The woman eventually runs out, yelling that she can’t “do
it” – go through with the identification.
The white police officer then takes a sip of Mountain Dew,
saying, “She’s just gotta do it.”
“Dew It” is the soft drink’s slogan.
Dr Boyce Watkins, a social commentator and author, called it
“arguably the most racist commercial in history.” Another blog,
Daily Kos, called it “flagrantly racist” and “misogynistic.”
“We apologize for this video and take full responsibility,”
said a PepsiCo spokeswoman in an emailed statement.
She said PepsiCo removed the ad from its online channels and
that Tyler was removing it from his as well. A link could be
still be found at press time.
PepsiCo did not pull an earlier commercial that showed the
goat, called Felicia, attacking the woman after tasting a
Mountain Dew at a restaurant. The woman was the goat’s server.
(Reporting by Martinne Geller in New York; editing by Jilian
Mincer and Prudence Crowther)
