For Super Bowl LX, Pepsi isn’t just showing up. It’s picking a fight. The brand has unveiled The Choice, a Big Game spot directed by Academy Award winner Taika Waititi that reopens the decades-long cola rivalry by leaning into a truth Pepsi has been betting on for years: when labels disappear, people prefer the taste of Pepsi.
At the center of the commercial is one of advertising’s most familiar mascots, a polar bear, who steps into a blind taste test and unexpectedly chooses Pepsi Zero Sugar over Coke Zero Sugar. Set to I Want to Break Free, the moment plays less like a gag and more like an identity crisis, as the bear reckons with what he’s always believed versus what he actually tastes.
That tension is the entire point. The spot dramatizes what the soda calls The Pepsi Paradox: the idea that branding and cultural bias often override flavor, even when consumers say taste matters most. By stripping away the label in the world’s biggest advertising moment, Pepsi is asking viewers to confront their own assumptions—loudly, playfully, and in front of a Super Bowl-sized audience.
Waititi’s direction leans into self-awareness rather than swagger. The film blends live action and CGI, but its real punch comes from tone: playful without being smug, competitive without feeling dated. It’s less about dunking on a rival and more about reframing the conversation around taste, identity, and why people choose what they choose. Watch below:
“I love a good challenge, so I jumped at the chance to take part in what many consider the biggest pop culture competition outside of Streaming vs. Theatrical,” said Taika Waititi. “I’m honored to play a small part in the Pepsi legacy – and the iconic Cola Wars.”
“For decades, Pepsi has embraced being the challenger cola brand, yet we keep proving we’re #1 where it matters most: taste,” adds Gustavo Reyna, Vice President of Marketing. “Cola drinkers care about taste, but when they choose anything other than Pepsi, they leave taste on the table. With Taika adding his unmistakable touch to the spot, we’re on a mission – alongside our newest and furriest fan – to showcase the universal human truth that Pepsi tastes better.”
The move is also backed by data. In the brand’s 2025 revival of the Pepsi Challenge, 66 percent of participants said Pepsi Zero Sugar tasted better than Coke Zero Sugar. According to the brand, Pepsi Zero Sugar won in every market where the test ran, including Atlanta, Coke’s hometown.
That momentum carries into the Big Game, as Zero Sugar returns to the Super Bowl amid accelerating demand for zero- and lower-sugar sodas. The brand reports 30.8 percent growth in 2025, nearly double the category average, with more than one million new households added.
Beyond the 30-second spot airing during the game, The Choice anchors a broader Zero Sugar push that includes real-time social giveaways during the Super Bowl, rapid-delivery Pepsi Challenge kits via Gopuff, a roaming polar bear activation in the Bay Area, and an on-the-ground food experience in San Francisco leading up to kickoff.
After decades of dancing around the rivalry, the soda brand is saying the quiet part out loud, on the biggest stage possible. When you remove the label, taste wins. And this year, Pepsi wants America to taste that for itself.
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Pepsi teases Super Bowl LX spot with Polar Bear and Taste Test
