The Openness and the Hypersensitivity of Todays Internet

As one of todays millennials I can tell you that one of the most prized thing of our time is the right for everyone to be able to speak their mind, especially via the internet and social media sites. This generation is all about being liberal and supporting the rights of people who in previous generations had been seen as “the outsiders”. Although millennials love to be opened minded they also seem to be extremely hypersensitive to what is posted. Many of today’s advertisements have to do with current events happening across the country. While creating advertisements around current issues, many people have their differing opinions. A perfect example of this was the recent Pepsi ad with Kendall Jenner that one of our class readings disused. In this commercial Caucasian Kendall Jenner was shown stopping the violence of a black lives matter rally by handing over a Pepsi to calm people down, which was seen to be offensive to people for an array of reason. As the class reading stated the ad was seen as "one of the most tone-deaf, vapid, reaching commercials seen in (our) lifetime. Not just because it’s pathetic, pandering, and preposterous, but because it misses the mark in so many ways"(Thomas 2017). One of the biggest problems that millennials seems to have about the ad is that it implies that the black lives matter problem is not a serious issue and that it can be fixed very easily. Second of all the Kardashian/Jenner clan is often being put down for cultural appropriation of the African American and Latino community, so this ad really frustrated those who feel the family does not have resect for other cultures. The ad shows Kendall leaving a photoshoot to go hand an attractive guy in the protest a can of Pepsi. The critics of this ad emphasized that not only does this minimize the movement but also makes it seem like people should be so thankful that this white model would leave her photoshoot to join a protest for equal rights. As an African American and a liberal I do see a lot of issues with this ad and do not feel that it was a positive step in promoting the black live matter movement; but I do feel that the media was a bit hypersensitive over this ad. I feel like it was clear that Pepsi was not trying to offend the black community or try to imply that a white model is better than others. Kendall Jenner herself got a lot of hate online for being apart of this ad, which in my eyes was very unfair. I think in todays world people of my generation are to quick to act like others are trying to strip them of rights, which I feel is often not the case. I am someone who had been a victim to discrimination and am very adamant to always stand up for equal rights for not only the black community but all communities; and I see a difference in this ad compared to actions that are blatantly racist. I absolutely do think that Pepsi missed the mark with this ad and definitely could have done a much better job creating something that promoted unity in a much better light; but the backlash that they received was a bit harsh I'm my opinion. This ad is just one example of a problem that I see on a rise, and that is hypersensitivity actually restricting people from speaking their minds on social media platforms and the internet. Millennials number one goal is to allow everyone to speak up, but with how easily people get offered I feel that some individuals are fear sharing their thoughts because they are afraid of receiving online scrutiny. In the past it was white men who would share their opinions and ignore the thought colored people, women, homosexuals and many more. I feel so proud that the world has come so far from those times, but I feel in people attempts to move forward they actually move backwards, and end up censoring others online. I feel that to achieve the maximum amount of acceptance and educated collaboration online everyone needs to be open minded and respectful of others thoughts. I personally do not agree with any conservative viewpoints, but I do enjoy collaborating with individuals with different viewpoints in a respectful way. I feel like that the internet was created to unite us and allow us to work together to fight all types of hate. In terms of the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad the company came out with a public apology and pulled the ad. The apology read “Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue.We are removing the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position”. I feel like this apology showed a lot of respect and made it very clear that the company did not intend to offend anyone, that they just did not perceive how people would interpret the ad. I think that the hate that both Kendall Jenner and Pepsi received after was just fighting fire with fire, which is something that I feel like often happens with both the openness and the hypersensitivity of today’s internet. In conclusion, I believe that millennials look at social media and the internet as a way to speak their minds and share their view points. The objective of today is to normalize the actions, cultures, and looks of all people. By claiming that the white community is constantly social appropriating other cultures almost has the opposite effect and prevents aspects of cultures being normalized. I feel that the community should look at the intention of all social media ads and notice the intentions of something before calling it hate. I think that the community needs to work together to stand against actual hate and try to teach everyone how to respect others through social media and the internet.


Thomas, E. (2017). How to make Millennials hate you, The Pepsi Way.. Likendin. Retrieved 9 November 2017, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-make-millennials-hate-you-pepsi-way-eric-thomas

Here is a video of the controversial Pepsi ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=dA5Yq1DLSmQ

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