The cola wars have gone sugar-free. Pepsi and Coke are locked in a major battle over their zero sugar varieties that is playing out on social media and on TV, where both brands are planning major ad pushes during expensive NFL programming this fall.

Pepsi today tried to steal some thunder from Coke Zero Sugar’s newly reformulated version by promising to buy a drink for every Coke Zero Sugar drinker looking to make the switch to Pepsi. To apply, consumers must request a reimbursement for their Pepsi Zero Sugar purchase by texting a special number and submitting a receipt. The brand is also asking soda drinkers to share a picture of themselves on social media drinking Pepsi Zero Sugar using “MyCokeBreakup.”

Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis.

Pepsi also confirmed that the majority of its NFL advertising will push Pepsi Zero Sugar via more than 12 new ads. PepsiCo is an official NFL sponsor and the way it spends on the league signals where it is placing its bets. 

Coca-Cola Co. has already said it will run its new Coke Zero Sugar campaign during NFL games. Ads that started airing earlier this month ask whether Coke Zero Sugar is “the best Coke ever?” via quirky ads that include one spot where a puppet and its master exchange their opinions. The campaign, which includes an extensive sampling effort, backs the drink’s new packaging and formulation that the company says optimizes its flavor blend.

The two cola giants have battled over their no-sugar varieties before—most notably in 2012, when Pepsi plugged its variety (then called Pepsi Max) with a Super Bowl ad that showed a Coke Zero truck driver getting caught buying Pepsi Max. 

But the stakes are higher this year as the companies battle for market share in what has become a hot category as more drinkers try zero sugar versions, rather than more classic “diet” formulations. 

There’s been a “rebirth of the diet soda category on the back of zero sugar platforms,” says Duane Stanford, editor and publisher of trade magazine Beverage Digest. “You’ve seen [PepsiCo] do this before in fits and starts, but what I think you are seeing now is full-scale effort to go after Coke Zero Sugar drinkers.” 

Coke Zero Sugar has a big lead with 3.5% share of the total carbonated soft drink category compared with 0.8% for Pepsi Zero Sugar, according to Beverage Digest figures on retail sales. But Pepsi Zero Sugar outgrew Coke Zero Sugar in the year’s first half, by a score of 22% growth to Coke Zero Sugar’s 13% uptick.

High-quality journalism isn’t always free.
Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.