Big companies have the power to do big things, and with their reach, Pepsi has encouraged many memorable and altruistic actions such as their 2010 "Bottle Promise" campaign supporting recycling on Facebook, offering a reward for reaching goals, and their 2010 Pepsi Refresh Project, allotting at least $20 million for a grant program. Unfortunately, it's a two way street when it comes to marketing.
In recent events, Pepsi has made a near fatal error in one of their most notorious ad campaigns to date: "Live for Now," a short film commercial released by Pepsi Global to the public in April of 2017. Also known as "Live for Now Moments Anthem" and "Jump in," this ad was only up for a day before being pulled down due to accusations of not only abusing footage from Black Lives Matter (an activist organization whose mission is prevent violence towards black communities), but trivializing the entire movement. According to Marketing Dive and YouGov.com, this ad brought down brand perception to the lowest point in 10 years.
"Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace, and understanding. Clearly, we missed the mark and apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further roll-out."
Stepping forward, Pepsi has released a new Superbowl 2018 commercial in an attempt to get back their image. This commercial, entitled "This is the Pepsi," looks back on all of the company's previously successful ad campaigns, with cameos and references to many influential and popular celebrities such as Brittney Spears, Micheal Jackson, Cindy Crawford, Ray Charles, and more.
While this ad is successful in bringing back the good ole days, many people are under the opinion that it's not really doing it's intended purpose...to convince consumers to buy the product. It's basically just reminding us that Pepsi has indeed made commercials before that were well received. This ad is seemingly trying to remind the public that they shouldn't be defined for their notorious "Jump In" commercial since they have proven themselves before in previous campaigns...
Millions of people tune in to watch the Superbowl every year -- and though it's near impossible to accurately estimate the number of people watching at any given time (and whether they're only there for the ads, the game, or both), it is safe to assume that this new Pepsi commercial has garnered a huge amount of views since airing right before "Pepsi Halftime."
On YouTube alone, it has over 3 Million views in the few days it's been up, with a like to dislike ratio of 15 thousand to 7 thousand. While there are currently over double the amount of likes, 7 thousand is no small number. In fact, to put it into perspective, a commercial Pepsi released in 2015 ("Uncle Drew") has 15 Million views, with a like to dislike ratio of 64 thousand to 3 thousand. As you can see, the difference is astounding.
On Twitter, the ad was posted using the hashtag #PepsiHalftime and has over 500 thousand views and counting with 1.5 thousand retweets and 4.4 thousand likes, many comments stating that "Coke is better" and claiming that some information in the ad was a lie. Their hashtag is on top of the trending list due to a promotion by Pepsi.
What's your opinion on Pepsi's Superbowl 2018 commercial? Have they redeemed themselves?
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