• by Danielle Oster , August 19, 2024

Dr Pepper is launching the seventh annual installment of its “Fansville” college football campaign, ahead of the upcoming season -- which kicks off on Aug. 24.

The campaign will reflect a series of changes to college football for the 2024-2025 season, including a playoff expansion to 12 teams, and a new two-minute warning rule.

“As we mark Dr Pepper's 10th anniversary of becoming the official sponsor of the College Football Playoffs, we welcome the new changes energizing the game, as it provides us with even greater opportunities to engage with both new and long-term fans, celebrating new beginnings while embracing the traditions of fandom together," Keurig Dr Pepper CMO Andrew Springate said in a statement.

“Into The Great Unknown,” one of the pair of ads kicking off the seventh season of “Fansville,” proclaims that “the new era of college football is here,” while acting as a trailer for the seventh season of “Fansville” as a whole. That includes a look at the accompanying “Hype Train” spot, focused on the promise and peril of pre-season prognostication, and how quickly teams’ fortunes can change.

A follow-up, entitled “Call For Backup,” will air nationally Aug. 26. The ad will star Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (who makes a cameo in “Into The Great Unknown”), marking the first time the Texas-based Dr Pepper has partnered with a Texas athlete for the campaign.

Ewers previously became the first college athlete to sign a name, image, and license agreement worth over $1 million, following the lifting of NCAA restrictions on such deals. (The financial details of his agreement with Dr Pepper are unclear.) Ewers was also the cover star for the EA Sports video game “College Football 25.”

“Fansville” ads will run throughout the college football season, on channels including CBS, ESPN, and Fox. The campaign will also run across digital, radio, OOH advertising, and on social media channels throughout the season.

Dr Pepper is also partnering with fashion designer -- and winner of Netflix’s “Next In Fashion” -- Nigel Xavier to release a series of Dr Pepper-inspired football outfits throughout the season. The first item is a jacket featured in the “Hype Train” ad, worn by the character Logan. Fans will have a chance to win the Dr Pepper x Nigel Xavier jacket through its Dr Pepper Perks rewards program on Nov. 1.

“The intersection of fashion and sports has always been a great source of inspiration for me,” Xavier said in a statement, noting that he is a former high school athlete.