Pepsi Max, 2011
Black women created a stir about this commercial that featured an “angry Black woman,” who scowled at her husband and even put soap in his mouth. When he sits on a park bench to enjoy the Pepsi Max, the wife does, too. It’s all good until a white jogger sits on the bench next to them and smiles at the husband. He smiles back and his wife gets angry and tosses her can of soda at her husband, who ducks, allowing the can to hit the jogger in the face. Said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas): “In this month of African-American history where we’re trying to celebrate what is good and great, it certainly seems ridiculous that Pepsi would utilize this kind of humor. It was not humorous. It was demeaning.”
