After recruiting him for their “multicultural campaign” to target minorities, Pepsi has decided to pull their ad campaign’s featuring Def Jam South rapper Ludacris. The company says it has been flooded with consumer complaints over the lyrics Ludacris has used such as “b**ch” and “hoes”. Although Pepsi states the many consumers complaints brought on their decision to pull the ads, Bill O’Reilly commented on his show last week how Pepsi shouldn’t be using the rapper in their ads as well as telling consumers to complain. Pepsi issued a statement on August 28th saying, “We have a responsibility to listen to our consumers and customers, and we’ve heard from a number of people that were uncomfortable with our association with this artist. We’ve decided to discontinue our ad campaign with this artist and we’re sorry that we’ve offended anyone. We’re still 100 percent committed to multicultural marketing, but we clearly need to be more careful about how we select artists to represent our brands”.
Only problem I have with Pepsi’s decision is that they have a new ad set to air nationally for the new Pepsi Blue featuring Papa Roach. Recently, the lead singer in Papa Roach urinated in a Gatorade bottle onstage during a concert in Boston and handed it to a fan to actually drink! Pepsi knew about Ludacris’s lyrics before they signed him but yet they continued to pursue him. Obviously, Pepsi cannot stand by the decision’s they make. Luda, keep holding it down!
