UPDATE: Tyler, The Creator’s Manager Says Ad Wasn’t “Meant To Be Taken Seriously”

Mountain Dew has pulled one of its Tyler, the Creator-directed ads over claims of racism.

AdWeek reports that Pepsi Co. recently pulled the ad—which features an injured woman picking out a perp from a police line-up of young Black men and a goat—after it sparked outrage over the implied racism and violence against women. Noted author and economist Dr. Boyce Watkins went as far as to call the ad, "arguably the most racist commercial in history."

A representative of PepsiCo. released a statement about the commercial's removal, saying, "We understand how this video could be perceived by some as offensive, and we apologize to those who were offended. We have removed the video from all Mountain Dew channels and have been informed that Tyler is removing it from his channels as well."

The commercial in question is a continuation of Tyler's first ad with the soda company, seen here. An image from the ad can be seen below.

[via AdWeek]

"It was never Tyler's intention to offend, however offense is personal and valid to anyone who is offended," Clancy began. "Out of respect to those that were offended, the ad was taken down. For those who know and respect Tyler, he is known for pushing boundaries and challenging stereotypes thr[ough] humor. This is someone who grew up on David Chappelle. This situation is layered with context and is a discussion that Tyler would love to address in the right forum as he does have a point of view. As someone who hasn’t had the experience of being discriminated against I choose to respect the opinion of those who have. What I can speak to is Tyler, who represents much more than the current narrative this story suggests."

"Contrary to what many may discern from this, Tyler is the embodiment of not judging others, his delivery may not be for everyone (which is true for anyone who pushes boundaries) but his voice is nonetheless imp[ortan]t to the conversation since his demographic understands what he ultimately stands for and sees the irony of it all. Context may or not help those who are offended and I wholly respect that, but for those who are interested, I can offer the following and leave the rest to Tyler.

"1. This spot was part of an overall admittedly absurd storyline about a crazy goat who becomes obsessed with Mountain Dew, 2. The lady in front of the line-up is the waitress from the first spot, 3. The line-up consists of Tyler's friends and Odd Future members who were available that day. (L-Boy, Left Brain, Garret from Trash Talk and Errol) 4. He absolutely never intended to spark a controversy about race. It was simply an...admittedly absurd story that was never meant to be taken seriously. Again, we apologize if this was taken out of context and would never trivialize racism, especially now in America where voting and civil rights are being challenged at the highest level. I can however stand firmly by someone I have believed in since we met, only because I know him and I know all of this was never his intent."

[via The Phuckery]