• by Danielle Oster , November 14, 2024

If a stranger swapped out your fountain soda at your favorite fast-food restaurant for a replacement, would you drink it?

For the latest campaign in its "Food Deserves Pepsi” platform, the beverage brand went undercover.

The initiative builds on the previous “Pepsi Chase Cars” campaign, which depicted vehicles chasing down pizza deliveries to ensure a Pepsi pairing. This time around the focus is on burgers. All three of the country’s top burger chains -- Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s -- sling Coca-Cola brands from their syrupy fountains, meaning patrons would have to smuggle in a Pepsi to enjoy the combination when eating inside the restaurants.

The campaign depicts smugglers doing just that: bringing a soda tap of their own to each of the chains and swapping out customers’ beverages with “Undercover Cups” full of freshly poured Pepsi. The campaign’s hero ad opens mid-action, with an “agent” in full Pepsi uniform making a mad dash for a getaway vehicle waiting nearby while shouting “They’re on to us!”

There’s a callback in to the previous campaign, with “Pepsi Chase Cars” vehicles used as getaway cars in the latest stunt.

In addition to the hero ad, the campaign also includes a series of related content -- including bloopers and cutdowns –--on the brand’s YouTube page and its pages on social platforms Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. There’s also a promotional giveaway component celebrating National Fast-Food Day on Nov. 16 by offering consumers $5 off their DoorDash orders when they buy a Pepsi from participating Pepsi partners Fatburger, KFC, and Taco Bell.

“Even when we’re not on the fountain, we’re going to help people score the optimal pairing, because nothing should stop you from enjoying your meal to the fullest,” Pepsi head of brand marketing Jenny Danzi said in a statement. “The citrusy sweetness and brown spice notes of Pepsi make it the ultimate burger companion.”