Pepsi and Coke are both going after the teen market with full flavor versions of the base brand in a zero-calorie option. To target teens, you certainly can’t talk calories and diet. More like – you better be cool and connect.
Which makes this a cute but rather odd commercial execution. First we start with the familiar story of our over-eager Pepsi and Coke route sales guys (you know — the Coke guy who really likes Pepsi better…) who meet each other in the store and go for broke to win the day with their new Zero products. Each is out to outdo each other by building the best in-store display while “Anything you can do I can do better” plays in the background. This section of the spot seems like it would be interesting only to the sales division of Pepsi and Coke.
Ok, so after all this comes the cool teen part. Snoop Dogg comes out on top of that big Pepsi display doing his “g-thing” rappin’ with the ladies. This big surprise is cool, but… did you lose the teens by this point?
Pepsi Max is diet cola aimed broadly but going for the teens – the sweet spot for Pepsi versus Coke. I love the product concept and I love to see cool diet products for the younger generation with big powerful taste. To connect with teens, Snoop is a great way to go. While 30 seconds of Snoop rapping may not be the best start for this ad, I am not convinced that the Pepsi and Coke route guys are the right route either. Overall, it’s fun, and Snoop shines bright in a “just OK” ad.
