PepsiCo will put its flagship soda brand in the Super Bowl, along with Doritos and Bubly, its 1-year-old sparkling water. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is handling all the ads.
Each brand will get a 30-second spot. The 90-second ad buy matches PepsiCo's 2018 Super Bowl investment.
The company did not share creative details.
Last year, PepsiCo plugged Mtn Dew and Doritos at the same time with a two-part ad totaling 60 seconds starring Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage that was handled by Goodby. Pepsi-Cola got a standalone 30-second spot featuring pop culture icons that have appeared in Pepsi ads over the years, including Britney Spears and Cindy Crawford. The spot was by Pepsi's in-house agency, Creators League.
PepsiCo is once again sponsoring the Super Bowl halftime show. As part of the deal, brand Pepsi gets access to 10 seconds of ad time prior to the show.
The halftime show, normally a much-hyped event that draws some of the biggest names in music, is beset with controversy this year. The NFL has yet to announce the lead act, although it has been widely reported that Maroon 5 will perform. But the Adam Levine-fronted band has come under pressure to back out, according to reports, as part of a movement by other big name stars to shun the show in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, as a way to bring attention to racial inequality.
"The majority of artists we've reached out to are standing in solidarity against the NFL," Gerald Griggs, vice president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP, recently told the Observer, according to a report in the Guardian. "They do not want to be associated because of the protest that was started by Mr. Kaepernick against racial injustice and police brutality." Kaepernick began the movement in 2016 when as a member of the San Francisco 49ers he began kneeling during the National Anthem as a way to protest social inequalities.
A PepsiCo spokeswoman referred comment about the halftime show to the National Football League, which did not immediately respond.
Brand Pepsi on Sunday debuted new work from Goodby during the Golden Globes. The alien-themed ad, starring William H. Macy, takes inspiration from the 2016 movie "Arrival."
