Pepsi's Emoji Billboards and Instagram Photos Are Cool in Ways That the TV Isn't

There's no getting around the fact that emojis, whatever their social equity among young people, are quite literally cartoony. And if you're going to build a whole global ad campaign around them, as Pepsi has done with PepsiMoji, it's going to feel pretty lightweight. And indeed, the five-second TV ads, which we wrote about earlier, are bubbly but also fleetingly goofy—all the more so because of their short length. Good thing, then, that Pepsi wisely decided to get some help from photographers for the out-of-home and Instagram elements of the campaign, created by Lloyd&Co. As is the case with fashion brands, soda marketers can get more from OOH than almost any other medium. It's a chance to do brand work on a grand scale, with little more than a feeling to guide the creative—the product barely has to get in the way at all. We saw that with Coca-Cola's new print and OOH, which has a timeless feel (and was, not coincidentally, themed "Taste the Feeling" even though the product was front and center). Now, Pepsi has done something similar with its PepsiMoji OOH work, recruiting photographer Ben Watts to create street scenes in which emojis are the interlopers, not the main stars. Check out the ad above, and three more below: The real-life and cartoon images combine for a pleasantly poppy vibe that in some ways feels as much a wry commentary on emoji culture as a mindless celebration of it. The Instagram campaign is even more immediate. Pepsi teamed up with street photographer Daniel Arnold for a series of candid street shots that also integrate emojis. See four of those images here: There's a nice chaotic feel to Arnold's work, which is very welcome, as it tries to add some spontaneity to Pepsi's clearly hyper-calculated strategy of appropriating the language of youth to sell sugary drinks. "I was after clean, graphic, candid photos that immediately communicated a feeling or an idea—essentially candid emojis," Arnold said. The images are appearing on Arnold's Instagram first, before hitting Pepsi's pages. The scope of the broader campaign is staggering, and has a packaging element at its core. Pepsi created more than 600 proprietary PepsiMoji designs and is placing them on over 1 billion bottles and cans in 100 markets. They'll also appear everywhere from sunglasses (in a fashion collaboration with designer Jeremy Scott) to stadiums, as Pepsi seeks to have a "provocative and fresh take on the cultural phenomenon of emojis." In addition to the five-second spots, the campaign includes the three videos below—one called "Origins" (by agency Moondog) about how the designs found themselves in the world and on Pepsi packaging; and two others (by BBDO New York) that wordlessly follow young people backpacking and at a concert. (The lack of dialogue reinforces the "Say It With Pepsi" line, which is being used with the tagline, "Live for Now.") The video work has its moments, and the craft on the five-second spots is strong. But in the end, in a campaign that needs some grounding in the real world amid all its animation, it's the OOH and Instagram stuff that's provokes the biggest smiley face. CREDITS —PepsiMoji Global Out of Home Credits Photographer: Ben Watts Creative Direction: Lloyd&Co Art Direction: Caroline Cox President, Managing Director: Jodi Sweetbaum Senior Account Director: Shari Lewis Account Manager: Taylor Backus Art Buying: Kristen Beecy Production Company: BaM Productions Postproduction: Rachel Levine Retouching: Ad Arts —PepsiMoji Global Social Imagery Credits Photographer: Daniel Arnold Creative Direction: Lloyd&Co Art Direction: Caroline Cox President, Managing Director: Jodi Sweetbaum Senior Account Director: Shari Lewis Account Manager: Taylor Backus Art Buying: Kristen Beecy —PepsiMoji "Origins" Credits Agency: Moondog Chief Creative Officer: Pete Kakso Creative Directors: Jeff Spangler, Michael Bernard Brand Manager: Courtney Ryan Law Strategy Director: Eric Druckenmiller Production Company: Moondog Films Director: Patrick McCarthy Executive Producer: Rasha Clark Retouching/ Animation: Moondog VFX —PepsiMoji Global Tvc Credits Agency: BBDO New York Client: Pepsi Titles: "Concert Connection," "Backpackers" Client: PepsiCo Senior Vice President, Global Brand Management: Carla Hassan Senior Vice President, Global Brand Development: Kristin Patrick Senior Marketing Director: Mark Kirkham Agency: BBDO New York Creative Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Lauren Connolly Senior Creative Director: Niraj Zaveri Senior Copywriter: Dana Stalker Associate Creative Director: Rachel Frederick Production Senior Vice President, Group Executive Producer: Julian Katz Senior Content Producer: Sofia Doktori Account Executive Vice President, Senior Director: Ladd Martin Director: Lauren Munilla Account Executive: Jillian Netzel Assistant Account Executive: McCabe Galloway Music Senior Vice President, Director of Music: Rani Vaz Production (U.S.): Park Pictures Director: Vincent Haycock Executive Producers: Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Justin Pollock Head of Production: Anne Bobroff Line Producer: Tim Kerrison First Assistant Director: Jeremy Robinson Director of Photography: Niklas Johansson Production Designer, Art Director: Quito Cooksey Production Service Backpackers (CRO): Blue Sky Adriatic Production Service Concert Connection (PAN): LCA Productions Offline Edit: Cut + Run Executive: Rana Martin Producer: Ellese Jobin Editor (Backpackers): Akiko Iwakawa Editor (Concert Connection): Gary Knight Visual Effects: Moving Picture Company Executive Producer: Camila De Biaggi Producer: Bindy St. Leger Associate Producer: Aiste Akelaityte Flame Artists: Jonathan McKee, Seif Boutella, Warren Paleos Compositors: Elijah Lamond, Jeric Pimientel, Jesse Speer, Ting-Jung Hsu, Tamir Sapir, Victor Torres, Andrew Macfarlane, Hieu Phan Computer Graphics: Vicky Osborn, Tiago Dias, Michael Nieves, Monica Manalo, Mike Lombardo, Chris Ribar, Angela Carafas, D. Venkatesan, Sivapriyan, Yashaswi Salandri, Manu PS, Mohan Pugaz, Prasad Vemula

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Pepsi's Emoji Billboards and Instagram Photos Are Cool in Ways That the TV Isn't

Daniel Arnold and Ben Watts bring an attitude to the work

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd