Detective Columbo stands amongst book displays and holds up a copy of New History of Erotic Art like he’s peering at the centerfold of a pornographic magazine.
Hi, Team.
Pepsi did a great case study in intent vs impact for any marketing students out there:
threads post by pepsi: “Pepsi Wild Cherry is what happens when regular cherry stops asking permission.”
The intent was a vague gesture to, say, staying out past curfew, taking an extra long lunch, idk stealing your sister’s skirt with a half-hearted promise of “I’ll give it back eventually.” All of these could be used in place of “stops asking for permission” and have been a more pointed little quip, but a generalism is what they went for, and that generalism certainly did not have the intended the impact.
Frankly, I think the issue was a matter of timing. Pepsi posted the same day the credible accusations of rape brought against Graham Platner had become, for better or for worse, a viral topic. Consent was top of mind, is all. A secondary strategic failure was posting this on threads. Threads, if you’re unaware, is Meta’s sinister doppelganger of Twitter the week before it became Elon’s jerkoff sock. At times threads feels entirely populated by people trained by Facebook, TikTok, and death rattle Twitter1 to post with the goal of triggering re/interaction. It’s a site churning in a digital maelstrom reminiscent of tumblr at the height of its social justice freneticism, only turbo charged with the instant gratification/ramification mindset of engagement-oriented online spaces. For every good faith response, there’s a baker’s dozen scrambling to get some hits in for the reward of engagement. To top it off, an edited version of the post replacing “permission” with “consent” went viral, muddying the waters even further. Not for nothing but we are also reaching the death rattle of brands-posting-like-they’re-people, the “heyyy bestie” approach is beyond tired: it’s actively rotting in the driveway. I’m patiently waiting for Threads to reach something similar to current tumblr, which is still broadly oriented towards inclusivity, but everyone has learned to not be an asshole about it. Also we’re not allowed to edit other people’s posts anymore.2
Pepsi removed the post and apologized. Here are some favorite posts that rose from the settling dust:
“Can’t believe Wild Cherry Pepsi was behind January 6th that’s crazy” -perfpolkadot
“Sorry the soda was mean. ICE killed another person today.” - johnpridmore
“We are the daughters of the wild cherries pepsi couldn’t tame” -jpbrammer (writer and artist John Paul Brammer)
Well, anyway, here’s what I read in June (a light month for me):
Confessions of the Fox - Jordy Rosenberg
Yesteryear - Caro Claire Burke
The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennett
Cruelty Free - Caroline Glenn
I’ve also been watching Love Island USA, and have Thoughts(tm), but I’m letting them marinate before I slice, simmer, and plate them up.
Okay, Team, that’s all for now! Talk soon (threat)!
1 Not to be confused with cool fun and long-dead Twitter, when I could see my mutuals’ posts right away without having to sift through engagement dung heaps of rage bait and sponsored posts.
2 Just ask John Green.