Way back around the turning of the millennium, there was a huge war raging between two behemoth beverages – Coca-Cola and Pepsi. While the war continues to blub away with people insisting they taste differently and storming out of restaurants when the waiter brings the wrong one (I can't taste the difference, tbqh), it's definitely less heated than it was back then.
In fact, the war kind of petered out as it became clearer that Coca-Cola had the monopoly of the market, and as people became less interested in sugary soda beverages in general.
Pepsi continues to try and bring its edge back, but especially with the monumental flop the whole
advert was, it looks to be a struggle.
And anyway, Pepsi will never be able to create a celebrity endorsement as good as their glory days when working with
. It was the early noughties, and Britney's jingles about the drink were
the best.
They were hugely successful, mainly because the tunes were so catchy. The first one was a Superbowl ad from 2001, and it mixed the old Pepsi jingle with Britney's fierce pop style.
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRu9HO_tIpw]]
After seeing how popular this one was, Pepsi made another commercial featuring regular people watching the original ad. It was more humorous, showing how people – even 1996 Republican presitential
candidate Bob Dole – became stuck, hypnotised and fixated on Britney and her moves.
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fugLhNbwoY]]
What better way to sell sugar-loaded, carbonated drinks to teenagers than have a highly-popular pop star snap her hips and whip her hair about, before taking a big sip of Pepsi. The ads became really popular ("all the kids in the street are talking about it!") mainly due to the fact that Britney was at the peak of her career, just after her second album was released.
After the first two ads came Now and Then, a sweet little video of Britney flying through the decades, reinterpreting Pepsi commercials and slogans in song while taking on the different styles of 60s, 70s and 80s.
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4giyL-4Sk]]
Finally, there was this masterpiece: the trifecta of queens – Beyoncé, P!ink and Britney – performing Queen in a colosseum.
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7jkygJ_QNo]]
The ads were cute, very watchable and undeniably catchy. But the people wanted more, and were hoping for longer versions of the songs that hadn't been cut short to fit the commercials. And now, more than 15 years later, the people's wishes have been answered.
The original, full-length versions of the first commercial, as well as the Now and Then spot, have
finally
been released. For the first time ever, we're able to listen to the songs in their entirety. The whole. Damn. Thing.
Here's the original Joy of Pepsi song:
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcDid_pHgOk]]
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_lSjaXpbyM]]
Oh man, someone bring
me a pair of low-rise flared jeans and take me back to the noughties.
The Pepsi commercials were a brilliant example of advertising back then. Compared to all the other boring corporate advertising at the time, these ads were really
cool,
especially compared to rival Coca-Cola who always went for a more sentimental and nostalgic kind of messaging.
Pepsi one-upped them by targeting a new, young and hip market and by working with the pop princess, and honestly – I think they've done it again. This trip back in time has me feeling all emotional and suddenly very thirsty for a Pepsi. Damn you, advertising.
