By Martha Ross
East Bay Times
SAN FRANCISCO — Kendall Jenner’s disastrous Pepsi ad didn’t just offend the nation with its appropriation of Black Lives Matter protest imagery to sell soda, it has left San Francisco police wondering if certain legal lines were crossed, according to TMZ.
The website is reporting that San Francisco police are working with the San Francisco City Attorney’s office to determine whether producers of the since-pulled ad crossed a legal line by improperly using the police department’s logo on the costume uniforms of police officers depicted in the ad.
The appropriated logo in question can be seen in behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the commercial, TMZ said. Both the ad and the behind-the-scenes footage were released this week online.
In the ad, supermodel Jenner is interrupted during a photo shoot by a band of happy, attractive protesters. She decides to tear off her blond wig and join the protest.
The ad ends with Jenner walking up to a stoic looking police officer, handing him a can of Pepsi and getting him to break into a smile. Many felt that this moment especially trivialized serious concerns about racism and police shootings of African-Americans by having a rich white model from a famous family seem to solve all these problems by just offering up a can of soda.
From the logo on the costume of the actor playing the officer, it definitely looks like the commercial is depicting the officers as San Francisco police officers, TMZ said.
While the commercial reportedly was filmed in Thailand, the logo on the sleeves of the actors is very similar to the official San Francisco police logo, as seen on the department’s Twitter account. TMZ says the SFPD never gave Pepsi permission to use their logo.
According to TMZ, the emblem on the officer’s shirt sleeve has the words, “San Francisco Police.” There’s also an eagle spreading its wings — very similar to the real San Francisco police logo, except the color scheme is different.
Sources told TMZ that the City of San Francisco considers their logos proprietary, which has prompted the police and city attorneys to investigate whether the Pepsi producers crossed a legal line.
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©2017 the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)