Pepsi has unveiled a Christmas campaign featuring rapping sensation Cardi B as a badass Santa. Delivering money to the world in a flying car, the ad is the direct opposite of Coca-cola’s wholesome image.
The flagship campaign, created by VaynerMedia, is designed to create a new holiday tradition by giving cash during the holidays with ‘Gift it Forward with Pepsi.’
Whether it’s gifted to friends, family members, teachers, or to fulfill outstanding IOUs, Pepsi wants you to gift the money forward and spread some holiday cheer!
According to a statement from VaynerMedia, people who gift cash for the holidays get a bad reputation for being lazy and thoughtless – but not only are they #winning for skipping endless retail lines and the possibility of gifting a future return, but they are giving people the power to buy what they actually want.
The spot, “A Cardi Carol” begins with an origin story: when Cardi B was young, the Pepsi lore goes, she was too naughty for Santa’s delivery.
This leads her to vow to launch a rival festive delivery service with cash as her load rather than presents. A flash forward to the future sees her manning ‘Cardi’s Twerk Shop’, where elves literally turn cans of Pepsi into cash. Watch below:
ALSO READ: Ikea ornaments rap and diss fam in new holiday spot
“While the holidays have always been known as the season of giving, finding the right gift to give has always been an underlying stress for people. Our ‘Gift it Forward with Pepsi’ program is all about disrupting the typical ways that people go about holiday gift giving by enabling people to unapologetically give the gift of cash, adding a new dynamic to the overall holiday experience,” said Todd Kaplan, VP of marketing, Pepsi.
“So, whether you gift your winnings to a friend, a family member, or someone else, Pepsi wants to make it easier for you to get into the gifting spirit this holiday season,” he added.
Through unique QR codes found across 12 packs of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar, Wild Cherry Pepsi and Pepsi Vanilla, as well as Pepsi Mini Can 15 and 10 packs, fans will try their luck at a digital scratch-off game – if three Pepsi globes are revealed, there is a cash prize ranging from $5 to $25,000 that can then be instantly gifted to a friend or a charity.
The two-minute film will be cut down to a 30-second TV commercial, which will first air on Thanksgiving (28 November). It kicks off a comprehensive engagement platform that will give Pepsi drinkers the chance to win cold hard cash.
SOURCE: VaynerMedia
