The always controverisal leader of Odd Future, Tyler, The Creator finds himself in the middle of another controversy. This time around, it seems that Pepsi Co pulled Tyler, The Creator’s Mountain Dew ads, because they been deemed “racist” by the general public. Author and scholar, Dr. Boyce D. Watkins went as far as even calling the commercial “arguably the most racist commercial in history.” Really?
Associated Press reports that PepsiCo, Mountain Dew’s parent company, “apologized in a statement and said it understood how the ad could be offensive.” The AP also reported, “Jen Ryan, a spokeswoman for PepsiCo, said the company was alerted on Tuesday by its consumer relations team that some people found the ad offensive. The company immediately decided to take down the spot and was told by Tyler that he would remove it from his YouTube channel as well, she said.”
In the offending commercial, we see a battered woman (who was previously beat up by Felicia, the goat at a restuarant) appear at a police lineup to pick out the person who beat her up. The woman tells the police officer “she can’t do it” as Felicia is seen muttering threats through the glass, “Ya better not snitch on a playa” and “Keep ya mouth shut.” The officer profiles one black man telling the woman to pick the guy out with the “du-rag.” The commercial ends with the woman storming out the room, and the officer drinking a nice cold bottle of Dew.
Was this really as bad as it was made out to be? You be the judge. Check out the commercial below (while it’s still up).
