It seems that Lil Wayne is not the only rapper endorsed by Mountain Dew that is stirring up controversy these days. Tyler, The Creator has sparked outrage over a series of commercials he's been doing for the brand, based around his character, "Felicia, The Goat."
The latest ad finds the character standing in an all-black lineup of criminals, as a seemingly battered woman attempts to pick Felicia out of the lineup, while being taunted with lines like "snitches get stitches, fool," "keep your mouth shut" and "I'm going to get out of here and do you up."
The commercial lends itself to Tyler's absurdist style, but taken out of context many have been offeneded by the spot, with social commentator, Dr. Boyce Watkins, calling it "arguably the most racist commercial in history."
A PespsiCo spokesperson has responded to the controversy, and revealed that the ad will be pulled, providing the following statement in an email to AdWeek.
“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.”
Watch the ad below.