I was born with a special gift, the ability to mentally transform any situation into the worst case scenario in my own brain.

therapist calls my gift catastrophizing.

And that's why I'm uniquely qualified to

blame.

blame. they say history repeats itself.

not on my watch.

My name is Rebecca Delgado Smith,

and I am The Alarmist. Hey everyone. Thanks for tuning into the alarmist, a comedy podcast where we talk about

history's greatest tragedies and figure out who's to blame.

Today we're discussing the Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial.

Here's what you need to know.

On Tuesday, April 4th, 2017, the popular soda brand, Pepsi, teamed with model and entrepreneur

Kendall Jenner to try to capitalize on a country in serious crisis and put out one of the

most tone-deaf advertisements that's ever been assembled.

The Pepsi marketing team watched the news just like anyone else, but where we all saw a nation in turmoil, they saw dollar signs.

A little bit of context. There have been a rise in demonstrations and protests in the

2010s, many under the banner or affiliated with Black Lives Matter, a social movement that seeks to highlight racism and racial

inequality experienced by black people.

Protests and marches included ones inspired by the killings of Eric Garner in New York,

Michael Brown in Ferguson, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Freddie Gray in Baltimore, and

others. There were massive protests against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in April of 2016.

Further, when Donald Trump was elected president in November of 2016, there were numerous demonstrations

...