Diet Pepsi's newest commercial seems clever enough. But given the positions that Coke and Pepsi have spent years staking out, it can also be seen as somewhat of a departure from how Pepsi wants us to view it with respect to Coke.
The commercial takes place on a beach. Outside a small building sit two vending machines, one with Diet Coke and the other with Diet Pepsi. As the Lovin' Spoonful's "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind" plays, a man approaches the vending machines, thinks for a second, and chooses Diet Pepsi. A forklift then comes along and takes away the Diet Coke machine, replacing it with Diet Coke with Splenda. A woman chooses Diet Pepsi, at which point another forklift removes Diet Coke with Splenda and inserts Coca-Cola Zero. Then Coca-Cola Zero is replaced by the next Diet Coke product, whose name is obscured.
Granted, these are not the flagship brands, but the direction Pepsi is going is certainly interesting. For about as long as there have been cola wars, the positioning of the two has been well known. Coke is the established standard: "Coke is it," "It's the real thing," "Always Coca-Cola." Pepsi is younger, the up-and-comer: "Pepsi now," "The choice of a new generation," "Be young, have fun, drink Pepsi," "Generation next." The latest commercial tells a different story--Diet Pepsi is the constant that people continue to prefer, irrespective of whatever the latest trendy product offering is from Diet Coke.
How meaningful is this change of direction? Another prominent commercial shows Diet Pepsi dancing to the Ramones in a convenience store fridge while stodgy old Diet Coke complains about the noise, so the message of the vending machine commercial appears unique. Which makes it even more peculiar. But maybe it will be successful, so long as people forget about Pepsi One.
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