AgencySpy has learned that Pepsi Co. paid SNL $3 million to have the Pepsi brand placed in SNL’s MacGruber sketch. According to a high-level source, Pepsi and Arnell Group met with SNL’s Lorne Michaels to make the deal happen.
We’re told the buy was solely for the product placement, not for media. Furthermore, the MacGruber spot was not originally intended to air during the Super Bowl — and that at the last minute things were shuffled around to fit the ad in.
Advertisement
Yet another source tells us that the initial plan was to air the first installment of the MacGruber sketch, but that too was switched out for the more Pepsi-heavy second bit.
More: “NBC, Pepsi Jerk One Another Off, Hit Will Forte in Crossfire”