Rev. Bernice King, whose withering tweet about a tone-deaf Pepsi ad powerfully encapsulated much of the public response to it, now encourages the soft drink company to connect with the King Center, where she is CEO.
"I invite Pepsi and other companies to join in Courageous Conversations facilitated by The King Center on the topics of social symbolism, race and responsibility, and presentations of privilege," she wrote in a piece for the Huffington Post. "In addition, I also invite corporations to engage with the Center for the purpose of planning sustainable and community-organized corporate responsibility initiatives."
Pepsi's commercial featured reality star personality Kendall Jenner, known for her lipgloss kits, easing tension between police and protesters by handing an officer a can of Pepsi.
Reaction was swift and overwhelmingly negative, but King's tweet - which has now been liked and retweeted more than 300,000 times combined, was essentially the final word.
Within an hour Pepsi had pulled the ad and issued an apology, although Jenner still features the ad on her own YouTube channel (watch it fast if you are interested; it'll likely get yanked from here, too).
MORE: Kendall Jenner is devastated at the reaction to her Pepsi ad
Pepsi also apologized directly to King, saying the corporation holds her father's legacy in the highest esteem and meant no offense.
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