Kim Kardashian is using her bar exam failure to sell energy drinks

• Kim Kardashian joked about failing the California bar exam in an ad for energy drink brand, Update.
• The campaign turns her legal setback into a punchline to promote the brand. She's a cofounder of Update.
• Astronomer and Burger King have also turned setbacks and criticisms into marketing opportunities.

Kim Kardashian has found a commercial use for failing the California bar exam: selling energy drinks.

Kardashian posted an advertisement for the energy drink brand Update on her X account on Thursday. Kardashian became one of the brand's cofounders earlier in 2026 during its relaunch. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The ad begins with her holding a mock press conference as reporters question her about her workload and appearance.

"People are always asking about all of the work I've gotten done," Kardashian says.

"They always ask: 'Kim, how do you do much? Kim, how do you keep going? Kim, are they really real?,'" she adds, as the camera zooms in on her breasts.

Asked how she keeps going, Kardashian says her energy is "just different" as she sips from an Update can.

The commercial later moves to an art gallery, where Kardashian sits inside a glass display case next to a stack of papers and a can of Update.

Attorney Gloria Allred, wearing a red suit and standing outside the case, asks: "Did she even ever pass the bar?"

"No," Kardashian replies. "I didn't pass the bar. I raised it."

Kardashian was among the applicants who did not pass California's July 2025 bar exam. The State Bar of California said 54.8% of the 7,362 people who took the test passed.

"Six years into this law journey, and I'm still all in until I pass the bar," Kardashian wrote on Instagram after receiving her result. She previously passed California's first-year law students' examination, known as the "baby bar," in 2021 after three unsuccessful attempts.

Kardashian is not the first to turn a setback or a piece of criticism into a marketing opportunity.

After Astronomer's CEO and HR chief resigned following their viral appearance on a Coldplay kiss cam, the tech company hired Gwyneth Paltrow as a "temporary spokesperson." In an ad, she humorously sidestepped questions about the scandal and instead promoted Astronomer's products.

Burger King went hard on the self-deprecating strategy in a 90-second Oscars ad, acknowledging slow service, squashed burgers, and food that "fell off" while promoting investments in its restaurants and improvements to the Whopper.

Kardashian joined Update as a cofounder in February. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The partnership is the latest addition to Kardashian's business empire. Forbes estimates her net worth at about $1.9 billion, largely driven by her shapewear brand Skims. She has also launched businesses spanning skincare, fragrance, and private equity investing.