One of this week’s most shared virals is the parody PepsiCo commercial that spearheads its NFL activation in the lead-up to the new 2015/16 season called ‘Joe Flacco Football Party Fail’.
The American football star fronts a spoof spot themed around learning how to throw a party and featuring plenty of puns (about ‘bowls’) linking football and parties.
The creative takes a mockumentary approach with a team of specialist hosting experts who help Flacco work on his hosting failures and set up a perfect game-day party.
The Baltimore Ravens quarterback lines up for a Tostitos snap behind a guest, rests his elbow in an ice bucket full of Pepsi and throws a drinks can in a tight spiral.
The 3-minute, 16-second online documentary style spot sees Flacco acknowledges his party organisation failures as being ‘pretty humiliating’ and takes lessons from the experts.
The spot is being amplified on both the social channels of both brand and ambassador.
ICYMI: My secret is finally out. See what everyone is talking about… https://t.co/AgB8g2THHn #UpYourHomeGame
— Joe Flacco (@TeamFlacco) August 31, 2015
Principally promoting the company’s Pepsi and Tostitos products (and retail giant Walmart), the creative features a plenty of product placement background shots: from cans of Pepsi and Diet Pepsi, boxes of Mountain Dew and bags of Doritos and Tostitos.
Comment:
Like its strategy last season, Pepsi is again kicking-off its NFL activity predominantly across digital platforms rather than on TV (see previous case study).
Talking about last season, the combination of this overt, over-the-top product placement, the humorous tone and the domestic setting ensures this new ad actually echoes many of the themes and approaches of Newcastle Brown Ale’s brilliant, multi-brand 2015 Super Bowl ambush (see case study).
For non-NFL fans, part of the joke here is that Flacco has something of a reputation for being a little dull (boring even) and he is certainly no party animal.
But this commercial clearly shows he can laugh at himself and show his funny side.
And with 4,709,210 YouTube views to date it has generated some traction.
Flacco is merely the latest quarterback to demonstrate his acting talents in a slew of pre-season campaigns that also see sponsors and ambushers use the likes of Gatorade’s #SweatIt prank films fronted by Peyton and Eli Manning, Subway’s new Marcus Mariotta-led ‘Trophy Talk’ commercials, Under Armour’s new ‘Rule Yourself‘ campaign with Tom Brady at the heart of their campaigns.
Although Flacco’s Pepsi spot isn’t our favourite recent TV commercial fronted by a Baltimore ravens star: that honour falls to the low-key, local ad for second-hand automotive dealer CarBiz featuring Pro Bowl kicker Justin Tucker explaining the art of driving as he parodies Matthew McConaghey’s big budget Lincoln car commercials.
Justin Tucker Driving w/ Both Feet – CARBIZ from Corner Unit Media on Vimeo.
Links:
Pepsi Website:
http://www.pepsi.com
Pepsi Twitter:
Pepsi Facebook:
Pepsi Instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/pepsi
Pepsi YouTube:
