Super Bowl Brands: Pepsi
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PepsiCo has initiated some intense renovations since the end of its 40-year relationship with Ad agency BBDO. With several of its beverage brands undergoing facelifts, Pepsi may use Super Bowl 44 as a bit of a debutante ball.
Pepsi Cola, famous for using comical celebrity endorsements in its super bowl spots, will likely put a different spin on its ads this year. The brand seems to be borrowing a bit of President Obama’s ‘hope’ equity with a new, optimistic, “Refresh everything” theme as well as a new logo. While last year’s ad dragged Justin Timberlake across NYC, this year may employ a more inspirational theme.
Pepsi Max, formerly known as Diet Pepsi Max, may also aim to make an impact at the Super Bowl. The brand has dropped the ‘diet’ and refocused itself as a calorie-free soft drink that men can finally be proud to carry. While last year’s Max commercial featured people nodding off to the tune of “What is Love”, the testosterone will likely be turned up a notch this year to grab the attention of the brand’s new target audience.
Contributed by: Maghan Cook
The *refresh everything* theme only brings to mind a deodorant or shower gel. Pepsi should have followed the lead of store brands imitating the big sellers. How ’bout a red and white can with, of course, some small print touting the processing of the Pepsi product, zero calories while packed with caffeine and call it Pepwiser. Any superbowl fan would be proud to carry that can.
It is interesting to see consumer companies narrowing down their target audiences to such defined groups. A soft drink for men? I wonder how effective this will be seeing as the ads alienate 50% of the population.