Pepsi’s Mountain Dew had a rough week, having had to drop Lil Wayne as their spokesperson right after pulling Tyler the Creator’s controversial goat ad.
Lil Wayne may have released a poor apology to the family of Emmett Till for his offensive lyrics in the “Karate Chop” remix, but that wasn’t enough to save the rapper from being dropped as the official spokesperson for the beverage.
Lil Wayne’s face has been plastered on every major Mountain Dew ad and the commercial featuring him encouraging others to “Dew You” is played on major TV stations every five minutes. All that is about to change.
Rappers are simply unable to get away with inappropriate lyrics if they are backed by a major company such as Mountain Dew or Reebok.
While some people see this is as a sign that businesses are taking a stand against controversial lyrics in music, that is far from the case.
Supporters of the Till family praised Mountain Dew’s decision to drop the tattooed rapper, but the big business shouldn’t be treated as heroes but hypocrites.
The “Karate Chop” remix was on the radio since early February and immediately made headlines when it was released. If Mountain Dew was really offended by the lyrics and felt that it wasn’t a reflection of their beliefs, they should have addressed it then. Instead, they wanted to see if they could slide it by unnoticed. That’s when the Till family showed up.
But if Mountain Dew had really done their homework, they would have realized that this isn’t even the first time Lil Wayne made an inappropriate reference to Till, the teenage boy who was beaten to death in 1955 for whistling at a white woman.
On “Da Drought 3,” Lil Wayne had a song titled “Swizzy Remix,” where he raps, “Beating up your block, yeah I get my Emmett Till on.”
So perhaps people shouldn’t be too eager to praise Mountain Dew for kicking Weezy to the curb when they were really inspired by profits, or lack thereof, not morals.
Meanwhile, they had yet another controversy to deal with.
Tyler the Creator has always been known for his strange antics, but his latest commercial for Mountain Dew was this week deemed by some as possibly one of the most racist and offensive ads to hit the air .
The commercial features a waitress wrapped in bandages and on crutches as she is asked by police to identify her attacker. Then a goat is seen threatening her and warning her that if she doesn’t keep quiet there will be some serious consequences to pay.
In addition to making fun of violence against women, others saw the commercial as racist because of the all-black lineup of criminal suspects and the goat’s vernacular, which suggested it was black as well.
No matter how you spin it, the commercial is pretty offensive, tacky, and just not even funny.
While the critics’ attacks have been aimed at Tyler, Mountain Dew’s motives should be questioned once again.
The rapper they chose for the commercial has earned his fame from outrageously controversial lyrics about drugs, violence against women, sex, and more. The claim that Mountain Dew doesn’t want such negativity associated with their brand seems problematic when they seek out representatives who fit that persona.
Source: Popular Critic
