According to reports, the online advert which was taken down was for their sub brand, Mountain Dew . It showed a beaten up white woman on crutches told to identify a suspect from a line-up of black men and a goat.

Felicia the goat reportedly threatens to beat the woman if she exposes him to police, saying: “Ya better not snitch on a playa.” The woman then runs away screaming: “I can’t do this, no no no.”

The Telegraph reports:

The dialogue used in the video, which was developed by African-American rapper Tyler the Creator, is an apparent word play on ‘Dew It’ – the slogan used to promote the drink.

PepsiCo has since apologised for the 60-second ad which Dr Boyce D. Watkins, an author and political analyst, described as “arguably the most racist commercial in history.”

“Mountain Dew has set a new low for corporate racism,” Dr Watkins writes on his blog Your Black World.

“Their decision to lean on well-known racial stereotypes is beyond disgusting”.

Commentators were also offended by the casual treatment of violence against women in the ad

In a statement yesterday, PepsiCo said that it took “full responsibility” for any offence caused by commercial and had removed the ad from its online channels.