• by Danielle Oster , September 4, 2024

 

Olipop is coming for a certain beverage brand’s “Do” with what it’s calling its largest-yet launch for the flavor Ridge Rush.

The campaign playfully riffs on marketing typical of energy-focused soda brands, with the “A Can Of Do” tagline clearly evocative of one legacy brand in particular: PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew. That tagline appears across a series of OOH billboards running in Houston and Los Angeles this month.

Olipop also teamed up with Haymaker and comedic directing duo Fatal Farm (“I Think You Should Leave”) on a pair of ads employing humor to showcase Ridge Rush as a welcome source of “Wholesome Energy” for those in need of an afternoon pick-me-up. In ““Paleontol-I-Guess,” a pair of paleontologists struggling to piece together a skeletal find decide to wing it and “make it fit,” while “I, Conquer” sees the beverage factor into an alien invader’s plans to conquer the planet.

The campaign is running across connected TV, digital platforms and social media throughout the month of September. It also encompasses a partnership with driver John Hunter Nemechek,  featuring the brand wrapping his car for a September 8th NASCAR race -- and one with Pro Football Hall Of Famer tight end Shannon Sharpe, to recreate an unspecified “viral soda meme” on Sharpe’s “Nightcap” podcast.

Last month, Olipop preceded the full launch campaign with an activation teasing the new flavor through an “Olipop University” sweepstakes only open to college students. Earlier this year, the brand also introduced a limited-edition flavor boosted by a brand partnership, with the release of the Barbie Peaches & Cream flavor.

The campaign for Olipop’s Ridge Rush flavor also happens to follow on the heels of Mountain Dew’s new campaign laying claim to the Mountain Time Zone. 

Olipop has stepped up its marketing efforts considerably over the past 18 months or so -- beginning with singer Camila Cabello starring in the brand’s first national campaign,  launched in May of 2023 – as it continues to pursue growth by appealing to beverage consumers increasingly seeking alternatives to the high sugar content of traditional sodas.