Here’s what happens when an activist actually tries to bridge a political gap with a can of Pepsi

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Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/04/14/heres-what-happens-when-an.html

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Now I’m just left wondering if all this social commentary is just doing Pepsi more good than ill

or is everyone an unwitting shill

I said Pepsi twice now

oh god noooo

Edit: this was so close to a vogon poem

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Context is important here. Meetings of the Portland City Council have been disrupted for months by people screaming in the chamber, demanding that their issue and only their issue be considered. There have been personal threats, and some city staffers now refuse to attend meetings out of fear for their safety. So when somebody unexpectedly approaches the mayor during a meeting and brings their hand forward, the first thought is “gun”. In this case it wasn’t a gun, but it was inappropriate grandstanding.

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I doubt it’s to Pepsi’s benefit unless they’re willing to be the butt of the joke, and i don’t think the people behind the brand are clever enough to make that happen.

And i no longer drink soda so the campaign, and other campaigns for sodas are ultimately wasted on me. But the Pepsi one does reinforce my unwillingness to drink the stuff regularly again.

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Sounds fair to me, thanks for the context. I was thinking a few things after watching that clip, the first being that I understand the need for security, but that we shouldn’t lean so far into it that we’re chuckling about how entirely stupid it was for someone to approach their lawmakers without clearance because, ‘ha ha, were we anywhere else your guts would be exposed via gunshot’. That’s flip, but we don’t need to bow and scrape every time the baton is raised just so.

I was also thinking about approaching a uniformed firearm-carrying person while holding a soda can-sized object at arm’s length…and how that’s something I never want to try for that same fear of personal bulletholes.

Lastly, to @klossner point about “inappropriate grandstanding”, I think it’s worth arguing that the whole thing made me uncomfortable and it also got everyone there pissed off…and I think that’s kinda the point sometimes. Strong feelings like that indicate rich veins of tension that need mining to clarify and alleviate.

Are you going to do this in every thread?

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I’m pretty sure all meetings at town hall have security screenings. He most likely bought the Pepsi at a vending machine within the building itself.

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We’ve traced the soda, and the Pepsi is coming from inside the house!

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“If this were the Boston City council that would have ended differently.”

WOAH DUDE! As a New Englander I have to ask, WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!? Jeebus Portland is throwing shade at New England now?! WTF

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Need someone to photoshop a Pepsi can in the background.

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give a man a fish, and he eats for a day.
teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.

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Marty Walsh would have stood up and angrily demanded, “Did you bring enough for everyone?!”

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I can shoop like the best of them but i’m at work :slight_smile:

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You’re not crazy.

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I can’t wait until we get reports of black block anarchists throwing cans of Pepsi at police during protests…

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This just goes to show that there’s no truth in advertising.

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I think the Pepsi ad was influenced by the photo below where the idea of a protester approaching a riot cop with a peaceful offering was photo worthy. Times have changed though. Touching cops or their weapons these days will not result in a happy ending.

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Oh, man, I came to say the same thing, but there’s no way I would have said it as hilariously as you.

(My spell check seemed to agree that “hilariously” is a word, but it doesn’t seem right.)

I’d like to buy the world a Coke. Just one Coke, though, so everyone would have to fight over it.

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