Last September, BBDO New York launched its first spot for Pepsi since 2008, when the brand shifted lead creative duties from BBDO to TBWA\Chiat\Day, ending a fifty year relationship with the agency.
That spot, starring Marshawn Lynch, essentially took one joke and ran with it and, unfortunately, the agency’s latest campaign runs into a similar problem with an approach playing on the idea of breaking out a Pepsi for a celebration with comparisons between everyday accomplishments and NFL players scoring touchdowns.
“Checkers” shows a man name Rico getting in a triple-jump on Mr. Sanchez in a game of checkers. Rico imagines that it must be like what Odell Beckham, Jr. feels like when he scores a game-winning touchdown. The spot then plays on the idea, with Beckham imagining the reverse while in the endzone.
The spot will make its broadcast debut tonight when the New York Giants face off against Minnesota Vikings for Monday Night Football. Another spot starring Beckham will appear as part of the campaign later this month.
“Phone Number,” which debuted last month, applied the same formula to Antonio Brown and a college student finally getting the number of a classmate he likes.
Whatever humor there is in the premise wears out its welcome by the end of the first spot, making the recent effort feel like a missed opportunity to shake things up. That’s especially disappointing coming on the heels of a pair of solid FedEx spots from the agency. Hopefully BBDO New York can do that going forward as the “Break Out the Pepsi” tagline leaves plenty of room to explore new directions.
Credits:
Agency: BBDO New York
Client: PepsiCo
Spot: Checkers
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Lauren Connolly
Creative Director: Monty Pera
Creative Director: Don Marshall Wilhelmi
Associate Creative Art Director: Todd Rone Parker
Associate Creative Copy Director: Dan Kelly
Group Executive Producer: Julian Katz
Executive Producer: Matt Nowak
Business Manager: Paul Cisco
Senior Account Director: Ladd Martin
Account Director: Lauren Munilla
Account Executive: Cornelia Madsen
Planning Director: Chris Cummings
Engagement Planning Director: Yin Chung
Production Company: World War Seven
Director: David Shafei
Director of Photography: Bryan Newman
Executive Producer: Josh Ferrazzano
Producer: Bo Clancey
Production Supervisor: Michael Mitchell
Edit House: Fluid
Editor: John Piccolo
Assistant Editor: Evan Johnston
Executive Producer: Laura Relovsky
Senior Producer: Valerie Iorio
Flame/VFX: Chris Davis
Flame Assistant: Cliff Moller
Colorist: Stephen Picano
Audio: Mr. Bronx
Audio Engineer: Eric Hoffman
Producer: Claudia Gaspar