I don't consider it racist in the sense that it is intentionally trying to denigrate one race over another, or even just telling an off-color joke. I think the failure of the commercial is that it's trying to tell an off-color joke (criminal reprisal against a victim isn't 'funny' on paper), but no one 'gets it' (or more likely, no one likes it), so all they're left with is the building blocks of that joke which draws uncomfortable conclusions.
I also think the "edgier" aspects of the commercial were done to generate buzz and free plays of the commercial. Pepsi has put as many eyeballs on this product as if they had run a super bowl commercial, and they're getting the press practically for free. The vague, quasi-racial nature of the commercial is intentional.
I remember in high school when a kid used to try to test their 'N-word privliges' by letting one slip within earshot, always ready with some excuse that it was a song lyric or that it wasn't directed at me specifically. The sentiment was always that, if their heart wasn't in it, then it didn't count. This commercial all but drips with that same sentiment. "C'mon, we half-assed it. It's not like we were TRYING to piss you off."
But I didn't buy that then, and I don't buy it now. I think the commercial was released directly to the internet because they knew that standards and practices would be up their asses. They knew that the mainstream media would turn their budget ride into a first-class trip, and they knew that the resultant controversy/buzz would be just containable enough to give them free press unscathed.
In short, I think that Pepsi is trolling us. They are literally trying to see just how much shit they can get away with online before the entire internet turns against them.
