Pepsi pairs gameday food with NFL campaign

The platform builds on Pepsi’s Food Deserves Pepsi positioning, which promotes the pairing of Pepsi with meals featuring bold flavors.

Pepsi is bringing back its Tailgating Deserves Pepsi platform for the NFL season, with a campaign featuring Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis and NFL player Justin Jefferson. The campaign positions Pepsi as a pairing for popular football foods including burgers, wings, pizza and hot dogs.

The campaign features Bettis as the Pepsi ref of gameday flavor, calling out occasions when football food is served without an ice-cold Pepsi. Jefferson joins him in the campaign’s launch spot, with two additional ads set in a fan’s home and a grocery store aisle scheduled to run during NFL broadcasts throughout the season.

Pepsi launches NFL food pairing campaign

In the campaign launch spot, Bettis flags a burger being served without Pepsi before Jefferson intervenes with an assist. The two additional spots extend the referee concept into everyday gameday settings.

Jerome Bettis, Pro Football Hall of Famer: "I know a great gameday setup when I see one. Great food, great football and Pepsi belong together. This season, I’m calling it like I see it. Tailgating Deserves Pepsi, and I’m here to make sure fans are ready for kickoff."

Pepsi will also run a promotional offer from September 9 through September 14, allowing eligible US consumers to redeem a digital offer for one free Pepsi Zero Sugar 12 oz, 12-pack at participating retailers, subject to availability and the promotion’s terms.

Pepsi offers free Zero Sugar 12-pack

The promotion is limited to 5,000 redemptions and ends on September 14 or when the redemption limit is reached, whichever comes first. Taxes and deposits are excluded.

The campaign is part of Pepsi’s broader presence in the NFL, with partnerships covering 15 teams: the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pepsi expands football marketing activity

Gustavo Reyna, Vice President of Marketing, Pepsi: "Our decades-long partnership with the NFL has given Pepsi a front-row seat to the moments, traditions and rituals that make gameday so special, and we know food is at the center of it all. With Tailgating Deserves Pepsi, we’re reminding fans that gameday spreads are too important to fumble. Pepsi is made for the bold flavors of football season, and Jerome and Justin give us a fun way to call it: when the food shows up, Pepsi should be right there with it."

The Tailgating Deserves Pepsi campaign will continue throughout the NFL season with merchandise, tailgating experiences, fan promotions and team-specific activations linked to football food occasions.

The campaign highlights burgers, wings, tacos, ribs and pizza among the foods the brand is targeting during the football season.

www.pepsico.com

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