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Over the past three years, a powerful hashtag and movement has grown up to demonstrate against police killings of black people

PEPSI has been blasted for an advert featuring Kendall Jenner which appears to use an iconic scene from a human rights demo but what is Black Lives Matter?

The telly ad sees the 21-year-old model use a can of Pepsi to stop a stand-off between cops and a multi-racial group of protesters bearing resemblance to a protest.

EPA

The civil rights group came about in response to extreme police brutality which culminated in the shooting dead of three African/American men in 2013

More than 1000 people were killed in police in the US in 2015, nearly a third of them black.

This is despite the fact that black people are 13 per cent of the population.

Against this background there was the fatal shootings of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana.

This sparked the Twitter slogan #blacklivesmatter

MARTIN FAMILY

But before the killing of Castile and Sterling, black people in the US and abroad were shocked by the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012.

Martin was walking back from a store to his fathers fiancees house when he was shot by George Zimmerman who was not a police officer, but a volunteer for a neighbourhood watch scheme.

He was cleared of the murder of a black teenager, Trayvon Martin.

Reacting to this perceived injustice, theBlack Lives Matter slogan began appearing as a hashtag online.

People across the world including celebs have taken to Twitter to criticise the Pepsi advert since its release, with Charlotte Church stating: This makes me sick and retweeting Kris Jenners support of the commercial.

Viewers complain the imagery echoes that of the young woman Ieshia Evans serenely standing up to armed police in Baton Rouge while protesting the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling.

Others have been left in disbelief at how tone deaf the advert is. Daily Show writer Kashana Cauley wrote: So all us dark people have to do is convince a cop that the Pepsi were holding isnt a gun.

Bernice King, daughter of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, tweeted: If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi.

Within 24 hours, Pepsi pulled the ad but it is online, with many mickey takes. In a grovelling statement, the drinks giant said: Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding.

"Clearly we missed the mark and we apologise.

"We did not intend to make light of any serious issue.

"We are removing the content. We also apologise for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.

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What is Black Lives Matter, what is the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad fiasco and how is it connected to Trayvon Martin's ... - The Sun