Pepsi Max: To joke or not to joke?

I try to avoid soda as much as possible, especially diet sodas (since they have given me migraine headaches), but occasionally I just cannot resist a cold Pepsi.  The ad I picked is the Pepsi Max: Jeff Gordon joke.  It actually made me consider trying the product, even though it is a diet soda.  What drew me to this ad was the practical joke.  I love jokes, especially practical jokes.  

This ad is about a man who comes into a car dealership and takes out a Chevy Camaro for a test drive.  What the salesman does not know is that the man is racecar driver Jeff Gordon in disguise.  "Mike" (Gordon) acts unsure and nervous and even drives erratically at first.  Then he takes off.  The salesman starts freaking out, yelling and swearing, demanding that “Mike” stop the car and by the end the salesman screams and threatens him with the police.  Jeff finally stops the car and comes clean with the salesman. 

In the ad there is very little music, a lot of dialog and you may think the ad is for the car, but its not! The product is shown in Jeff’s hand, on the car and in the beverage holder in the car.  Obviously, racecar followers will recognize Jeff Gordon, though I image most of the America is aware of who he is.  This ad was posted on YouTube and then shared on Facebook.  The ad runs for three minutes and forty-six minutes and I finally saw an edited version on Cable TV about a month after I viewed the YouTube version.  This is the only ad that I have seen so far, but I believe it would be a great campaign.

I think many advertisers are getting more subtle about how they place their products now days.  Drawing in the viewers, enticing them to figure out what the ad is about as they view it.  This ad is a great example of that type of advertising.  Another one I have recently seen on local channels that does this is coveroregon.com.  Like the Pepsi ad, they never tell you that they are selling their product, but allow your curiosity to figure out what the ad is for.  I think this is a great way to draw your viewers in, especially when we are inundated with so much information.

At first you may not recognize Jeff Gordon but the ad is designed to draw you in, making you want to know what is going on, and continue to watch by the the ad.  Once they identify the famous racecar driver, the viewer is let in on the “secret” or practical joke.  This is a great hook for a viewer.

I think this ad style is new and very different than a great many other ads.  I have noticed this being used in the last 6 months to a year.  This ad not only makes you figure out what the product is, it uses a famous celebrity, a fast car, and a practical joke, a wonderful quadfecta.  The ad will appeal to most age groups, both male and female.  The only groups that I think would not be drawn to this ad are older females and professionals (though I know many professionals who enjoy this kind of practical jokes).

The ad does include several stereotypes that help set up the joke in the ad: “Mike” is made to appear older, slightly built, and kind of wimpy looking; he's southern accent; his comments that he drives a minivan; he is not really in the market for this type of car that in fact makes him nervous; and states it’s (the car) “a little more than I’m used to." 

Since this ad draws in the viewer by making them a part of the secret of the practical joke that is being played on the salesman makes this ad unique and makes views enjoy it, time after time.  When I considered what ad to write about, this is the first on that came to my mind.  When I first saw it, I watched it several times and shared it with my friends and family for a good laugh.  The one weakness is perhaps the lack of product placement.  I remembered it was a Pepsi product, but not which one.  Unlike the Pepsi commercial with Cindy Crawford that also included a fast car, a model and the new Pepsi cans.  Even after more than twenty years, I remember the product.  This ad will remain in people’s memory because of the joke that was played on the car salesman and I think that most American’s would consider it a humorous practical joke.

Pepsi is known for their commercials that grab the viewers.  As the largest soda company, they spend a lot of money to draw in their consumers and have proven their cutting edge ads succeed in catching the viewers’ attention and make them desire to buy their products. 

I think this is a great ad and I shared it with friends and family for a good laugh.  However, I would not recommend the product to people because I do not think the artificial sweeteners are safe to consume.  Even though I am not a huge NASCAR fan, I recognized Jeff Gordon and thought it was a perfect set up.  I learned that at times if an ad gives the viewers the clues about a product they will take the time to discover what the ad is about, so an ad does not have to be blanketed by the product.  Finally, an ad that entertains and have multiple facets, like a celebrity, a good story and items that make a person want to be involved in, will draw a viewer to the product.  An ad that uses similar components in a different fashion that is much more straight forward is the diet Mt Dew ad with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  Both ads are for soda, featuring famous racecar drivers, fast cars and an average Joe, but I find the Pepsi commercial more persuasive and I want to watch the ad again and again.