Polarized political moments left no neutral brand position available

Evidence

Multinational corporations issued public statements supporting Black Lives Matter. … With passions inflamed, there were only two sides to the conflict, and brands were punished for attempting to find a middle path. Pepsi became a punch line after releasing a jejune commercial in which Kendall Jenner attends a nonspecific demonstration (with protesters brandishing “Join the conversation” signs) and defuses tensions by handing a soda to the riot guards. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 475

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: No topic is inherently political or apolitical — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 139