The "Riverdance" revue of Irish folk music and dance was still a very current pop-culture reference at the time of Super Bowl XXXV, which fell in the middle of a Broadway run at the Gershwin Theater. So it was within arms' reach of Diet Dr Pepper and the New York office of Young & Rubicam when they sought metaphors for rivals' poor imitations of full-calorie cola. 

“Not everything can be good as the original," the ad concludes, "but diet Dr. Pepper is.”

The ad marked a return to the Super Bowl for Young & Rubicam and Cadbury Beverages, which used the 2000 game to promote the original Dr Pepper brand.

Director: Chuck & Clay. Production company: Crossroads Films. Executive producers: Cami Taylor, Charlie Curran.

Agency executive producer: Ken Yagoda. Producer: Jennifer Kirstein. Creative director: Manny Perez. Art director: Jordan Atlas. Copywriter: Jeff Maerov.  Music producer: Hunter Murtaugh. Editorial: MacKenzie Cutler Editorial. Editor: Eric Pomert.

BRAND: Diet Dr Pepper

YEAR: 2001

AGENCY: Young & Rubicam

SUPERBOWL: XXXV