- Pepsi is making one other pitch because the superior soft drink pairing with burgers with recent “Undercover Cups” stunt videos, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
- The guerilla-style marketing sees Pepsi agents barge into locations of the three largest U.S. burger chains to snag customers’ drinks and replace them with Pepsi. McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s have official partnerships with rival Coca-Cola.
- “Undercover Cups,” a pun on undercover cops, is running on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok. Pepsi stepping up its tit-for-tat marketing with competitors follows the brand losing its spot because the No. 2 soda in the U.S.
Pepsi has made food pairings a spotlight of its marketing for several years, but “Undercover Cups” sees the brand return to more direct shots across the bow at its biggest competitor — together with the fast food chains that exclusively carry Coke products. “Undercover Cups” builds on a “Pepsi Chase Cars” campaign released in September that depicts Pepsi agents chasing down pizza delivery drivers so as to add Pepsi to their orders in the nick of time.
Pepsi’s crack team is back in “Undercover Cups,” as is a brand-themed sports automotive kitted out with fountain machines for serving up ice-cold soda on the go. In the brand new social content, Pepsi agents barge into McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s locations, swapping out diners’ soft drink orders with Pepsi and galvanizing surprised — and in some cases, expletive-filled — reactions from customers and store managers. Bloopers and cut-downs of the video shall be shared on social media.
The alternative fountain cups featured in “Undercover Cups” toy with McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s iconography. One shows the Wendy’s mascot sipping on soda, her signature red hair turned Pepsi-blue, while one other sandwiches the phrase “This is Pepsi” into the Burger King logo. BBDO is the creative agency behind the concept that argues “Burgers deserve Pepsi.”
“Undercover Cups” lands ahead of National Fast-Food Day on Nov. 16, when DoorDash customers can receive $5 off an order that features Pepsi from participating restaurants Fatburger, KFC and Taco Bell. DoorDash was also a partner on “Pepsi Chase Cars.”
Pepsi in 2021 debuted a #BetterwithPepsi platform with a campaign that similarly riffed on McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s imagery and ribbed their preference for Coke. #BetterwithPepsi evolved over time to position Pepsi as the perfect drink for meals like pizza, hot dogs and cookout food.
“Pepsi Chase Cars” and “Undercover Cups” are a part of a Food Deserves Pepsi platform that appears largely the identical, but with a heavier bent toward candid-camera marketing that goals to go viral. #BetterwithPepsi was the brainchild of former Pepsi CMO Todd Kaplan, who departed the CPG giant for Kraft Heinz earlier this yr.
“Pepsi Chase Cars” proved a success with consumers, racking up over 5 million views on YouTube. Keeping Pepsi in the web conversation shall be essential because the brand vies for the dollars of price-conscious shoppers and fights to win back market share. Dr Pepper surpassed Pepsi because the No. 2 soft drink in the U.S. in June, in keeping with Beverage Digest data.
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