Pepsi Max reminds drinkers to never settle for OK in cheeky new campaign via Special
What’s in a name? A lot, especially when you want a drink that tastes better than OK to maximise the flavour of food. That’s the playfully provocative premise of a new campaign for Pepsi Max via Special.
The ‘Tastes OK’ campaign, is the latest iteration of the established Pepsi Max ‘Tastes Better’ brand platform, highlights a design flaw that’s been hiding in plain sight in the name of the brand’s biggest competitor, reminding Aussies that food tastes better with Pepsi Max.
The creative highlights the unfortunate comparative term ‘OK’ in the spelling of the competitor’s name and invites consumers to choose a better tasting partner for their favourite meal by ordering Pepsi Max.
The OOH-led campaign lets drinkers of the competitor’s product know they’re settling for just ‘OK’ when they don’t choose Pepsi Max, with ads appearing on OOH sites across the country. The media strategy also spans print, display, publisher partnerships, an influencer program, and social signs.
Says Vandita Pandey, chief marketing officer ANZ, snacks and beverages at PepsiCo: “We have long known that Pepsi Max tastes better than our main competitor and this latest campaign helps us reinforce our position as a challenger brand. Australia’s meals are not being done justice, palates across the nation are being deprived, whilst consumers settle for OK. Working with Special Group to bring to life our bold and disruptive nature with a little light-hearted fun is something we know resonates well with customers.”
Says Simon Gibson and Nils Eberhardt, creative directors at Special: “Getting briefed to work on the ‘Tastes Better’ campaign is exciting and intimidating in equal measure. It’s such a bold and direct line and it’s led to great work in the past, so we all knew we needed to do something that lived up to it. Then, our competitor did it for us. We saw an image they put out into the world and noticed something we couldn’t unsee.”
Client: PepsiCo
Chief Marketing Officer, Snacks & Beverages: Vandita Pandey
Head of Marketing Beverages: Susan Press
Marketing Manager: Tiana Handel
Brand Manager: Candy Wong
Creative Agency: Special
Partners/CEO: Lindsey Evans & Cade Heyde
Partners/CCO: Julian Schreiber & Tom Martin
Partner/CSO: Dave Hartmann
Client Services Director: Richard Sweetman
Creative Directors: Simon Gibson & Nils Eberhardt
Team Lead: Michelle Braslin
Business Director: Maddie Armstrong
Head of Stills: Nick Lilley
Integrated Producer: Danielle Senecky
Integrated Producer: Emily Willis
PR Managing Director: Alex Bryant
PR Account Director: Sarah Halpin
Creative Strategist: Kate Wilkinson
Media Agency: Trio (PHD Australia)
Group Business Director: Jen Jones
Planning Director: Gilbert Lee
Senior Investment Manager: Mikeah Irving
Production Company: The Pool Collective
Photographer: Danny Eastwood
Production Company Producer: Zoe Izzard
Retoucher: Mark Sterne
88 Comments
Cool idea. Let down by the execution though – that food looks pretty disgusting so it probably doesn’t matter what you drink with it.
this feels like ‘look how clever we are’ work by an agency that doesn’t realise that sticking the most famous brand in the world into the centre of your ad is going to, for a lot of people, turn it into an ad that works harder for your competitor than it does for you.
So you’re saying that a headline that reads ‘tastes ok’ is going to do a good job for Coke? Retire now.
We really just learnt nothing from years of Burger King doing stuff like this to win awards whilst their market share absolutely plummeted, eh? Just going to repeat the same mistakes because we get a nice shiny piece of metal?
There’s no way this has been through creative testing… makes me want to buy a Coke!
Simple and beautifully shot.
To the critical juniors out there.This is called an idea.
Not many around these days.
A visual pun ain’t an idea, my guy.
Other notes
– Strat checks out, I like that they’re unashamedly going after taste
– Also like that they’re executing around the dirty fast casual food space
– Per the BK comment, we have a mountain of evidence that putting your competitor in your ad like this, regardless of how clever art and copy is, works against you.
https://clios.com/awards/winner/design-craft/pepsi/better-with-113337
At a glance, all you’ve done is make a free ad for diet coke.
I don’t exist.
This feels petty, like Pepsi has nothing interesting to say.
…….the shots are way too dark and dirty looking and the food is disgusting.
Isn’t it meant to look kind of lacklustre? As if you’re seeing the food through the eyes of a coke drinker? If the food looked amazing wouldn’t that be saying the opposite? Bizarre take.
great ads guys, I liked it.
Looks like an ad for Coke
Nice work Gibbo and team. Tasty work from a tasty man.
Looks full tasty to me! You mustn’t be hungry
Great stuff. Love this
Said like a jaded suit who works on Coca Cola.
Not Ok
If a student team presented this to me I would be telling them to go away and learn about the power of distinctive brand assets. The fact that this is actually a real ad that apparently *glances at credits* 30+ people worked on just leaves me in a state of despair about this industry.
Pepsi just blinked.
this is quite cool. the people thinking the food looks bad are missing the point…it’s supposed to. the idea is coke makes things average.
maybe some of you aren’t meant for this game.
We know what the ad is trying to say yoyo, but that doesn’t mean it’ll communicate what it’s meant to be saying to everyone.
And when you make the hero image of an ad your main competitor’s product and say it tastes ‘OK’ you gotta expect any response you get
1] some might read it as Pepsi Max tastes OK.
2] might read it as Coke’s OK and not read anything else – in that case its a Coke ad
3] some mightn’t like Pepsi knocking Coke – and just harden the Coke user’s loyalty to Coke. ‘Knocking your competitor’ ads don’t work well in Oz.
4] some might say ‘Wow, I didn’t know Diet Coke had no sugar and no calories’ – then run out and buy their first ever Diet Coke
5] some people like yoyo might just read every word get it straight away and just love it – but just because yoyo does, doesn’t mean every other yoyo in town will.
Go home and have a cuppa haters. Well done to the client that had the guts to run an ad with a coke can in it, we need more of them.
my thought process: “oh cool an ad for KFC! … Coke? oh it’s Pepsi… nice”
This is great work for a cheeky award entry. Nice one.
Yeah, if that’s the desired out take then it misses the mark by not showing how MAX would make it taste better.
Thanks for that, I really needed a good laugh and your comment certainly gave me one.
If you think that a single actual person anywhere in Australia is going to decipher that then you’re genuinely one deluded MF
Imagine dedicating your life to the noble pursuit of turning a Coke can around.
It just makes me want a coke?
With Coke. OK.
What is great about this: Disruption.
What could have been pushed: The idea. Coke versus Pepsi is a long-running thing and the bar is high. This idea is ‘OK’.
I think the visual execution is fine. People are clutching here.
So it tastes just OK with shit food. Doesn’t say much for the product then.
This is good
Thank you Pepsi, this is just brilliant. Especially pleased that you included our no sugar no calories callouts.
A bit disappointed that you’ve chosen to feature Diet Coke though, a product which is being phased out and no longer available in fast-food chains.
Could we bit a bit cheeky and suggest for the next campaign you use a Coke Zero Sugar can instead? Or even just our regular Coke can?
Really appreciate the plug. Keep up the great work.
Your friends from Coke.
If Special followed the advice of these comments, they would have been left with a hell of a dull ad.
at least this is interesting.
This campaign is just OK
Really? The food is ‘supposed’ to look average because coke makes things average?
No, the food was supposed to look appetising. But the art direction, styling, photography and retouching unfortunately (and unintentionally) made it look average.
You’re obviously not from the agency because they obviously think this is good work and wouldn’t dream of making such a lame post-rationalisation for their average work.
But you’re right that some of us aren’t meant for this game…
When I was young my local kebab shop had a meal deal where, thanks to a typo, you got a ‘Free Bottle of Cock’. Always made me laugh. Years later, now all I can think about is how that meal deal would have tasted better with Penis.
This heat is really getting to the CB commenters
Love it. It was made for us.
People in the real world are unlikely to look at this and lavish praise on a ‘brave client’ and ‘punchy creative’. They’ll probably just see two soft drink brands.
At this point, it’s all in the craft. The link below is how it’s done.
https://www.oneclub.org/awards/adcawards/-award/42556/better-with-pepsi-burger-king-print
The ones shown here are just a bit crass and frankly, mean spirited.
Yep.
If you listen to CBs commentators, you’ll become a CB commentator.
What would Kendall do?
Looks and no doubt tastes disgusting. Much like Pepsi.
How many clients and agency people signed off an ad that does more for the competition than the advertiser? Mind blowing.
This is a cracking idea. Can’t believe it hasn’t been done before. It will probably win awards.
The problem is, most consumers won’t get it. The brand recall will be shocking, and it will probably be confused for a Coke ad, so sales will not change.
Consumers are dumb. They don’t deserve this ad. I’m a creative however, so I love it. I’m not from Special.
Sure, bit risky to put a competitor smack in the middle of your ad, but it’d make me want to try Pepsi.
My dude, you are clearly unaware of what your actual job is. Your job is not to create things that are clever and that win awards but that no one in the real world understands. Our job is to sell shit. Or change opinions. Or behaviour.
If the consumer ‘doesn’t deserve the ad’ then the people at Special have utterly failed to do the job they were hired to do.
It’s not world-changing work, but it’s good work. If nothing else, it’ll get buzz while pushing the Pepsi ‘taste’ narrative. Risky but I like it
PS. Yes the food looks average
Not an award killer…so those saying that have no idea. But at least it is fun, or trying to be. Instead of being a lifestyle shot of a hot guy/girl on a beach holding a heavily spritzed can. Not bad, props to client, props to agency…good work is impossible to make right now.
Tell that to our performance being measured by awards. Industry needs to realign on what moves creatives careers forward. At this point it’s awards, so that’s our job, win awards.
Is upon us. Get your entries in.
News flash – you can win awards and do work that doesn’t actively hurt the clients brand. And if you can’t, you’re in the wrong industry and you’re trading short term gains for long term unemployment
Tell that to the award judges, that’s the guiding light. Case in point if this wins.
@The worst part about our industry:
“Consumers are dumb. They don’t deserve this ad. I’m a creative however, so I love it.”
You’re in the right industry, and the wrong profession.
When has anyone ever deserved an ad?
I want a Cooooooke. Must buy a Cooooooke.
Simplify it. No need for distracting food etc.
Visual: Just the ok can.
Line: tastes better than OK.
Logo: Pepsi Max
This is a lovely ad for Coke.
Every person is a consumer, creative folk included.
Never say ‘consumers are dumb’, unless you’re acknowledging your own shortcomings.
As for this piece of work, it’s…ok.
“…with ads appearing on OOH sites across the country.”
please can someone who actually sees one of these in the wild post back here where it actually is.
My guess is that these **might** appear on DOOH for 1 hour in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere.
Or maybe PepsiCo / the creative agency / the media agency can update us along the way and let us know what the real world results look like
@Ok art direction:
If you remove the food, you remove the strategy.
Pepsi Max is being positioned as a zero-sugar complement to food that improves the overall experience.
If Pepsi Max is zero-sugar, it means you can have a full fast-food meal and worry less about your calorie intake. (1 calorie in a 375mL Pepsi Max can, vs. 166 calories in a 375mL Pepsi can).
So, in ‘Tastes better with’, the most important word is ‘with’; not ‘better’.
‘Tastes better than’ is a wider goal for Pepsi’s brand against Coca-Cola’s brand, not a line extension. (Even though Pepsi Max is the main Pepsi product distributed in Australia – which you can see by typing in pepsi.com.au and seeing their social media – it’s still positioned against Diet Coke in this ad.)
There are plenty more creative ways to elevate a product than just saying, ‘We taste better’. It’s not even logical, as there’s no substance to the argument. How do you say that in an interesting way?
Well, Pepsi’s already done that to great success in the early-’80s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgr5kc5QdBU & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiO_JES4yBY
It really worked well for Pepsi there, as it eliminated the brand distinction and invited people to test out Pepsi based on the product differentiation alone. When Coca-Cola ‘blinked’ by creating New Coke, this is why.
You could argue that the Pepsi Challenge is among the most successful and effective advertising campaigns ever made. (Only trumped by Coca-Cola bringing back ‘Classic Coke’ 79 days later).
But, there’s no point in doing a line extension if you’re positioning the products in the exact same way. It defeats the purpose of a line extension (i.e. creating a new product to meet an consumer need unmet by the existing product line).
Different products require different positions. I’d recommend reading Ries & Trout; they explain positioning far better than I possibly could.
In short: don’t lose the strategy by simplifying a campaign too far. All great ads are simple, but not all simple ads are great.
Two golden rules of advertising:
1. Never acknowledge your competition – it gives them oxygen at your expense
2. Never criticise your competition – it makes your product look weak, petty and substandard
This idea breaks both of those rules and while clever from an art direction perspective, it doesn’t build any reason to buy Pepsi. How this got through the agency planners, management and then client is mind boggling. It reinforces why Pepsi is an increasingly distant number 2 in the fast declining cola category. Well done to everyone involved.
Haha. Too funny. Please keep sticking to the ‘rules’. It lets the brave shine.
This is a great ad…..for Coca Cola.
I saw one, but wasn’t sure if it was just a very good mock-up by a junior art director with not much on.
If you need a complex point like yours to defend your position, then mate, you be doing wayyyy too much. Keep it simple.
And if the brief really was to focus on ‘with’, then this is execution is not it.
For a creative blog, I have never seen so many so called rules about advertising thrown around. For a creative mob of people, the conservatism is mind blowing. It’s worrying. It’s like a suit from the 80’s is writing these comments.
Hats off the the creative lawyers who got this one approved
Something like this will always divide ad creatives, and both sides make good points.
But it’s heartening to see the number of people looking at this from a brand point of view; what’s right for the Pepsi brand, what helps Coke’s brand and so on.
Not so long ago, the comments would have been along the lines of, ‘Cheeky, disruptive, put some shelves up…’
Almost feels like advertising has grown up a bit.
Regarding the food shots, it’s greasy for a reason. People often eat fried food with a side of diet fizzy to offset the calories and their guilt.
Agree about the comments. But these ads still feel derivative. They feel like people from the 80s made them.
I really like it. Shame about all the hate. Well done to everyone that got this over the line. Nice to see a fun, simple idea for a big brand. Great stuff.
Did this actually run?
If Golden Rule #1 is to never acknowledge your competition, what do you say about Avis Car Hire’s classic and long-running “When you’re only No. 2, you try harder” campaign by DDB? No rules are golden, my friend.
Is no-one going to mention that Droga 5 did this exact idea for Diet Coke in 2021. Ignore the photography, food styling, or whether people will get it… it’s been done before.
If you are going to start quoting ‘golden rules’ then please at least know and understand them.
The ‘never acknowledge’ your competitors and give them oxygen is true for market leaders, not for smaller brands trying to play catch up. Take the Avis example that has been mentioned already.
What you don’t do, however, is put the market leading brand front and centre in your ad. That is why this ad is not going to work and it’s why BK’s ‘challenger’ approach saw their market share plummet whilst they cleaned up at award shows.
No rules are set in stone, but there is also a lot to be said from learning from the very recent mistakes of others and not following directly in their footsteps.
@FFS (the initial commenter):
There’s no hard-and-fast rule about acknowledging or criticising the competition (i.e., a ‘knocking’ ad). While it’s far more common from challenger brands, you can still pull it off as the market leader: https://i.pinimg.com/236x/f6/6e/73/f66e73d87467601feff0397ce0d0e9fb.jpg
‘Get A Mac’ (a.k.a. ‘I’m a Mac’) is a great modern example on how to knock the competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfv6Ah_MVJU&ab_channel=MacTechHowTo
There are two important distinctions here:
1. You’re not mentioning the competitor by name. Avis’ ‘We Try Harder’ campaign (and Hertz’s follow-up by Carl Ally, Inc.) never mentions the other competitor by name. They’re talking about their relative position in the market when they talk about being No. 2. Even ‘Get a Mac’ doesn’t mention Windows; it doesn’t need to. It’s a positioning job; anything that’s not a Mac is a PC, meaning that other guy. For another modern example, this time from AirBnB against hotels (but not Hilton or Intercontinental): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5LQIKNtVOE&ab_channel=Airbnb
2. Fast-moving vs. slow-moving. Knocking ads work better in slow-moving industries. When you’re buying a car, for example, you’ll be assessing and comparing multiple options before buying. An ad like the following from Cramersaatchi works just fine, as it speeds up the process for the consumer and positions the Ford Executive alongside other competitors in an industry where it’s happening already: https://davedye.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/7.-Jaguar-RoverFord-CDPCharles-SaatchiRoss-Cramer.jpg
But, when you’re selling a fast-moving consumer good, you don’t have that same process. That’s where mental availability (a la Ehrenberg-Bass Institute) comes in. Choosing a drink is a decision that requires far less processing than buying a car, or car insurance, or a computer. The latter @FFS is completely correct there; don’t showcase the market leader’s product front-and-centre when you’re a challenger. You’re buying ad space (and mental availability) for your competitor using your own dollar.
The Pepsi Max outdoor stunt they did in May works better because you’re effectively promoting your supplier. If KFC stocks Pepsi Max, an accidental ad for KFC still helps Pepsi Max. An accidental ad for Diet Coke, on the other hand…
More comments please!
If anyone has ever played Mario kart, you’d know that being right behind no.2 gives you that slipstream boost to take the win from behind.
Keep the explanations simple @needsmorebowlingballzzz
Calling this a campaign is the most imaginative thing in the whole article – one concept on three different images is not a campaign. Also, if you can’t think of anything to say about your product, attack your competitor by all means. Kudos on having the cajones to show it to the world though.
@Mario kart:
You might be asleep at the wheel.
If you’re right behind no.2, what position does that make you?
You get the idea. Obviously meant no.1. I’m not spending a whole day trying to craft a campaign brief comment.
Oh look, a print idea! How nostalgic. Makes me feel old.
(They can put it in OOH, display ads or tattoo it on arses – it’s a print ad.)
(Incidentally, one that did not need three versions. They’re not executing an idea three different ways, they’re just the same thing.)
I think some concerns raised massively underestimate consumers. There’s no way people will read a headline ‘Tastes OK’ and think it’s an ad for the pictured Coke and move along. It takes half a second here to lay eyes on the logo and line in the corner. They’ll get it.
To me, the visual treatment here is clearly speaking to stoners – hanging out inside with curtains down eating a bunch of delicious junk. The problem is that if you’re eating a sloppy burger and fries why suddenly give a fuck about sugarless soft drink? If it’s taste that’s the sticking point, you’d just go the whole hog and actually drink the stuff that does taste good i.e. normal Coke.
But this work is noticeable and that’s certainly something.
This is so cool, I mean who thought that OK in cOKe can be used like this.
Ol’skool advertising. One word, one image, says plenty. More of this, please.