Mountain Dew Online Ad Pulled, Called 'Most Racist Commercial in History' (VIDEO)
On Wednesday, PepsiCo, the maker of Mountain Dew, revealed that it had removed a new commercial for the popular carbonated beverage after it received tremendous criticism for perpetuating racial stereotypes and minimizing the serious nature of violence against women.
The 60-second spot depicts a battered woman being asked by police to identify the perpetrator from the police lineup, which is comprised entirely of black men and a goat.
The individuals in the lineup are members of hip hop collective Odd Future and the goat, which is voiced over by Odd Future's co-founder and the ad's developer Tyler, The Creator, is heard in the ad telling the victim to, "keep your mouth shut" because "snitches get stitches."
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Prominent social critic and Syracuse professor Dr. Boyce Watkins called it "arguably the most racist commercial in history."
"Mountain Dew has set a new low for corporate racism," he told Yahoo News. "Their decision to lean on well-known racial stereotypes is beyond disgusting. This doesn't even include the fact that the company has put black men on par with animals."
The ad is the third in a series in which a goat, named Felicia, drinks an excessive amount of Mountain Dew and is repeatedly portrayed getting into trouble with the law.
After the outpouring of criticism and calls that action be taken PepsiCo decided that it would remove the ad and offered a statement expressing their apologies.
"We understand how this video could be perceived by some as offensive, and we apologize to those who were offended," a spokesperson said in a statement to AdWeek. "We have removed the video from all Mountain Dew channels and have been informed that Tyler is removing it from his channels as well."
Tyler, The Creator's manager issued a lengthy statement on Tumblr, in which he apologized for the ad being offensive and insisted that it was "never meant to be taken seriously."
