Bernice King Extends Olive Branch To Pepsi After Kendall Jenner Ad

ATLANTA, GA -- One day after the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. tweeted a rebuke at Pepsi for their new ad that plays off a Black Lives Matter protest, Bernice King is extending an olive branch to the soda giant.

Pepsi's ad, which features Kendall Jenner handing a police officer a can of the iconic soda, was slammed on social media for its imagery that is tauntingly similar to a photo from a protest in Baton Rouge, La. after the officer-involved shooting of Alton Sterling.

On Wednesday, King tweeted a picture of the image of MLK, saying "If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi."

The tweet was cheered by Twitter users who saw Pepsi's advertisement as a trivial attempt at relevancy. In an apology, the company acknowledged the commercial's futility, saying.

“Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly, we missed the mark and apologize,” the company said in a Wednesday statement. “We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout.”

On Thursday, King, born and raised in the home of Coca-Cola, reached out to Pepsi in an op-ed in the Huffington Post, asking the company to join a dialog at Atlanta's King Center for Nonviolent Social Change to make a difference.

“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.

she said that ad was "problematic in imagery and content" because it "contributed to the notion that there is a fairy-tale, light way to ease conflicts that have existed in this nation for hundreds of years."

No word yet on whether Pepsi will take her up on her word.

Below is the Pepsi ad (yes, it will live forever online somewhere):

Image via Wikimedia / Creative Commons license