Pepsi Pulls Mountain Dew Ads Following Complaints Of Racial Stereotyping, Violence Against Women


A bizarre online ad for Mountain Dew, featuring a talking, abusive goat and a bruised and battered woman has been pulled by parent company PepsiCo following complaints.

The ad, which you can see above, is the latest in a series of spots for the day-glo soda created by rapper Tyler, The Creator, himself no stranger to controversy.

In the spot, the series’ returning character, Felicia the Mountain Dew-craving goat, is placed in a police line-up with several black men. On the other side of the glass is a white woman — possibly the waitress from a previous Dew ad who was attacked in a restaurant by Felicia — with abrasions on her face and body, a neck brace, and a black eye.
mtdew2

mtdew1
“I can’t do this, no no no!” screams the woman as Felicia mutters threats through the glass to her, like, “Ya better not snitch on a playa” and “Keep ya mouth shut.”

A rep to PepsiCo tells the AP that Tyler had final approval of the ads he created.

UPDATE: A PepsiCo rep subsequently clarified that she declined to explain the approval process to the AP. So apparently we’ll never know who actually signed off on a bunch of idiotic ads featuring a violent talking goat, which were never intended to air on TV.

That being said, PepsiCo tells Consumerist that it is taking full responsibility for the ads and provided the following statement from the folks at Mountain Dew: “We apologize for this video and take full responsibility. We have removed it from all Mountain Dew channels and Tyler is removing it from his channels as well.”

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.