As the king of awkward product placement on his old show, The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert knows a thing or two about what makes a good advertisement. And Pepsi’s latest attempt to harness the zeitgeist is not it.
During his Late Show monologue Wednesday night, Colbert walked his viewers through the commercial, which was pulled down by the company less than 24 hours after it was released online.
“We have a deeply divided nation,” Colbert said. “But today, it seems that everyone has come together to join the protest against the new protest ad from Pepsi.”
“It starts with a throng of beautiful, multi-ethnic people protesting in the streets of, I’m gonna guess Newport, Rhode Island,” the host began, as footage from the spot played onscreen. “So far, we don’t know what has caused all of America’s hot extras to take to the streets. But I’m guessing it’s a protest for ‘Attractive Lives Matter.’”
As for the sign that says “Join the Conversation,” Colbert called it “the most corporate message ever,” adding, it might as well say, “We are all the corporate demographic.”
“At first, this was a movement without a leader,” he continued. “Until the protest route just happened to pass by Kendall Jenner doing a fashion shoot for, apparently, aluminum siding.” In the ad, Jenner rips off her blond wig and hands it to black woman, who, in Colbert’s words, “is not thrilled about being Kendall’s wig caddie.”