Mountain Dew Yanks Ad Over Racism Complaints

PepsiCo is pulling an online ad for Mountain Dew that was criticized for portraying racial stereotypes and making light of violence toward women. In the 60-second spot developed by black rapper "Tyler, The Creator," a battered white woman is urged by an officer to identify a suspect out of a lineup of black men. A goat is included in the lineup, and it makes threatening remarks to the woman such as "Ya better not snitch on a player" and "snitches get stitches." She eventually screams and runs away. PepsiCo apologized and said it understood how the ad could be offensive. The company says the video has been removed from all Mountain Dew channels, though it's still available for now on YouTube. (More PepsiCo stories.)