Pepsi Trolling Coke Before the Super Bowl

Hello World,

I read an interesting article this week regarding the Super Bowl. You know that not only is it football’s big day but it’s also a big day for advertising and marketing in general. One thing the city of Atlanta where the Super Bowl is taking place is known for is being the main headquarters of the Coca-Cola company (Coke). But Coke is not the main sponsor of the NFL, that honor goes to Pepsi. Pepsi is, of course, one of Coke’s main competitors. But I think Coke still got the last laugh over Pepsi in this year’s upcoming Super Bowl.

Ask me how? Well, let’s get into it…

As I said earlier, Pepsi is trolling Coke because they are on Coke’s home turf while they are the main sponsor for the NFL in Coke’s home city. Pepsi is demonstrating its cleverness via 350 ads on billboards, recycling bins and even the walls of train stations. The ads are not only huge, but they’re also snarky too. One billboard right down the street from The World of Coca-Cola museum reads “Pepsi in Atlanta. How Refreshing.” Another displays the phrase “Hey Atlanta, Thanks For Hosting. We’ll Bring The Drinks.”

But I say that Coke got the last laugh because of the 60-second ad they are putting right before the national anthem directly before the big game. This will be Coca-Cola’s first time not run an in-game Super Bowl ad since 2006. The anthem has become a big deal ever since The animated spot, called “A Coke is a Coke,” is by Wieden & Kennedy Portland, the same agency that made Nike’s Kaepernick ad that divided conservatives and liberals. Except this ad was inspired by Andy Warhol and attempts to bring us together with unity instead of just divide us.

Apparently, the great Andy Warhol was the inspiration behind the ad because of a poem in which he states that “a Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking.”

Finally, the spot ends with the line, “Together is beautiful.” The tone keeps with Coke’s tradition of trying to push for higher ideals during the Super Bowl. The idea of bringing people together is classic Coke which is why I think they won the contest overall.

To find out more about the inspiration for the ad see AdAge’s “COKE SITS OUT SUPER BOWL FOR PRE-GAME ‘UNITY’ SPOT BEFORE NATIONAL ANTHEM.”