Mountain Dew Receives Backlash for ‘Most Racist Commercial in History’

One social commentator, Dr. Boyce Watkins, called Pepsi’s latest faux pas “arguably the most racist commercial in history.” The 60-second spot offended online viewers who accused the ad of being racist and misogynist.

The video, which can still be seen on several YouTube channels, depicts a bruised and bloodied woman on crutches. A cop urges her to pick a suspect from a line-up of five African American men, all members of the music group Odd Future, and a goat named “Felicia.” The camera then focuses on Felicia, who warns the woman to “keep your mouth shut” and utters threatening messages such as “snitches get stiches” and “I’m going to get out of here and do you up.” The clip ends when the woman is overcome with fear and leaves the room yelling.

Where’s the tie in to Mountain Dew? Apparently, the woman screaming “I can’t do this, no no no!” and the cop’s “Do it” line reference the soda’s “Dew It” slogan.

The controversial video series, created by Tyler, The Creator, gained popularity when broadcast on Adult Swim. Although, this third segment is definitely the most questionable of the bunch. The ad has since been taken down by PepsiCo, a spokesman for the company emailing Adweek the following apology:

We understand how this video could be perceived by some as offensive, and we apologize to those who were offended. We have removed the video from all Mountain Dew channels and have been informed that Tyler is removing it from his channels as well.

H/T Adweek