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Pepsi, Pytka Can't Get Enough Of The Cola Wars

A new Joe Pytka-directed spot for Pepsi Max out of TBWA/Chiat/Day plays off of a spot the director put together for Pepsi in 1995, before the Colas Wars became balkanized with extensions to address every consumer contingency short of, say, Pepsi Sour vs. Coke Tart.

In the original spot, drivers for Coke and Pepsi share their respective beverages with each other in a diner. A brawl erupts when the Coke guy refuses to return the Pepsi after having had a taste of it, Andrew Adam Newman reports. The new version, which takes on Coke Zero, ends with the Pepsi driver pulling out a smart phone to record the Coke driver taking a long sip of the Pepsi. A brawl again ensues, but this time both drivers fly out the window, not just a chair.

"I was never happy with the old ending," says Pytka. "I had shot a version with the guys coming out the window, and we had a long discussion, and Pepsi was concerned with the violence. The ending is completely satisfying now."

Score one for the Muses. And for the little people, too. "People love the cola wars ...," says Lauren Hobart, CMO of the sparkling brands division of PepsiCo. "The rivalry is just a very integral part of our heritage for both Pepsi and Coke."

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