Pepsi Caves, Apologizes For Controversial Social Media Post

Pepsi riled up some especially sensitive social media followers with a post they somehow interpreted as making light of sexual consent.  

The beverage company apologized for the post and deleted it after getting slammed in the comments.

The original post, immortalized in screenshots, was shared on July 6. It said: “Pepsi Wild Cherry is what happens when regular cherry stops asking permission.” 

Pepsi has apologized for this post.

I’m sorry, I’m just not going to buy that Pepsi was posting out rape culture jokes, as some have implied.

The “wild” alongside “stops asking permission” clearly implies that their intention was about celebrating rebellion not about… pic.twitter.com/WlrQriMUHx

— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) July 7, 2026

The critics claim this phrasing made light of consent. “Pepsi, what the hell? Promoting r*pe culture? This is shameful,” one comment said. 

“Hey @Pepsi this is sickening and disturbing. ‘Stops asking permission’ isn’t a clever marketing line to me — it’s making light of consent,” another agreed.

This led to critics calling out previous posts from the beverage company, which were now being interpreted in a new light. These included one that said, “You’re being left on read. I’m in their hand. We are not the same,” and another that read, “Crack me. Sip me. Tease me. Taste me. But please don’t shake me.” 

Plenty of people came to the soda maker’s defense, arguing the outrage mob was overreacting to something silly.

“I’m sorry, I’m just not going to buy that Pepsi was posting out rape culture jokes, as some have implied,” one response said. “The ‘wild’ alongside ‘stops asking permission’ clearly implies that their intention was about celebrating rebellion not about encouraging people to not be concerned with consent.”

Pepsi issued a follow-up apology post.

“Our recent Wild Cherry post landed in a way we never intended. We hear you, we’re sorry, and the post has been deleted,” a Threads post from July 7 said.

The controversy comes at a time when people are having strong reactions to brand social marketing campaigns, with efforts at jokes or edgy sentiments often leading to outsized reactions from followers. For example, in 2021, Burger King posted, then removed, a call for more female chefs by writing, “Women belong in the kitchen.” It didn’t help matters that it was shared on International Women’s Day.

Social media followers called the sentiment “misogynistic” and “sexist” despite it all just being a joke.