Viewers call Pepsi’s new ad insensitive

But that is where the script takes a turn that has evoked many negative responses across social media over the past few days. In the TVC, as soon as the student leader claims to go on a hunger strike to a news reporter, one of the protesters is shown glugging down a chilled bottle of Pepsi. As everyone stares at him accusingly, he simply shrugs and says “Pepsi thi yaar, pi gaya” (It was Pepsi, I drank it). The reporter’s focus immediately shifts from the cause of the protest, to disregarding it, as the leader tries to salvage the situation.

(Source: Youtube)

The message in the ad is heard loud and clear — Pepsi is so irresistible that everything else fades in the background. But it’s the TVC’s timing and tenor that hasn’t sat well with its viewers.

Even the FTII students let known their disapproval of the ad on Twitter.

We don’t know what to say about this. Day 124 #SoNotCoolPepsi #FTII http://t.co/1Upl6Zjljo

— Wisdom Tree (@FTIIWisdomTree) October 13, 2015

Responding to all the negative reactions, PepsiCo issued a statement to the media, saying the ad “has no correlation whatsoever with the ongoing protest by the students of FTII…The new ‘Pepsi thi, pi gaya’ campaign simply highlights the great taste of Pepsi through the eyes of its consumers”. In the meanwhile, the hashtag #SoNotCoolPepsi has been doing the rounds on social media, calling the beverage ad insensitive and distasteful. Here are a few examples:

How NOT to tell a Story – such insensitivity towards protesting FTII students. Uncool. #storytelling #FTII #Pepsi https://t.co/9xBREhpRQv — Storywallahs (@Storywallahs) October 15, 2015

Dear @PepsiIndia mocking a hunger strike by #FTII students in a commercial is vulgar. You just lost a customer #SoNotCoolPepsi

— Aparna Bhattacharya (@chhuti_is) October 16, 2015

#SoNotCoolPepsi #FTII http://t.co/JSsfE2w4At example of #insensitive #thoughtless #advertising. — Danish A G (@danishag) October 16, 2015

Watch the controversial commercial: