Pepsi has kicked off its 26th NFL season campaign, enlisting Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis and NFL wide receiver Justin Jefferson to front its latest creative under the brand’s ‘Tailgating Deserves Pepsi’ platform. The campaign casts Bettis as a game-day referee whose job is to flag food spreads missing Pepsi.
In the launch film, Jefferson joins Bettis to call out a burger served without the drink, playing on the idea that gameday food and Pepsi are a non-negotiable pairing. Two more films, set in a fan’s home and a grocery store aisle, will follow through the season, with Bettis continuing to police gameday setups wherever Pepsi is conspicuously absent.
Jerome Bettis said he knows a solid gameday setup when he sees one, and that great food, football and Pepsi go hand in hand, adding that this season he’s simply “calling it like he sees it” to make sure fans are properly set up for kickoff.
As part of its NFL Kickoff activity, Pepsi is also giving away free 12-packs of Pepsi Zero Sugar to eligible US consumers between September 9 and 14, or until 5,000 redemptions are claimed, whichever comes first. Gustavo Reyna, VP of marketing at Pepsi, said the brand’s long-standing NFL partnership has given it a close view of the rituals that define gameday, with food sitting at the centre of it all, and called Bettis and Jefferson a fun way to reinforce that Pepsi belongs wherever the food shows up.
The campaign will extend into merchandise, tailgating experiences, fan activities and team-specific activations, with Pepsi currently partnered with 15 NFL teams, including the newly added Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
