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There’s nothing like enjoying a refreshing Pepsi during NFL Kickoff… while waiting for Megan Thee Stallion’s MTV VMAs debut … as you preorder tickets for Paramount Pictures’ Gladiator II.
At least, that’s the message we’re getting from Pepsi’s new, loaded NFL ad.
With a total audience of 27.5 million on NBC last year, the National Football League’s season opener ranked among the Top 10 broadcasts overall in 2023 and had wider reach than any non-NFL event.
So this year, Pepsi and Paramount are treating it like the Super Bowl with a three-minute sports marketing hybrid ad touting multiple Pepsi products, the NFL players who appear on CBS Sports broadcasts, the host of the Paramount-owned 2024 MTV VMAs Megan Thee Stallion, and the Paramount Pictures sequel to the half-billion-dollar, five-Oscar 2000 epic Gladiator.
Oh, and it’s all a callback to a 20-year-old, three-minute “Roman Empire”-themed Super Bowl spot featuring Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Pink, Enrique Iglesias, and a cover of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
“What started as a theatrical brand partnership evolved into one of the biggest promotional programs in our company’s history—spanning across theatrical marketing, CBS Sports, and the Paramount Global networks,” said Marc Weinstock, Paramount Pictures’ president of worldwide marketing and distribution. “A film of this scope calls for a truly epic campaign, and we can think of no more fitting collaboration than with one of the most iconic brands in the world.”
The Roman remix
The epic spot starts innocuously enough, with White Lotus’ Jake Lacy and New Girl’s Lamorne Morris bro-ing down at a sports bar, talking about their stacked fantasy football lineups—Justin Jefferson, Derrick Henry, Josh Allen, Travis Kelce—and embracing modern temperance with some Pepsi Zero Sugar.
The lid of their can turns into the Colosseum as their fantasy players take to the arena in gladiator gear, and “Empress Megan” drops the beat on a reimagined version of Queen’s classic. After defeating some CGI animals through teamwork, the NFL players toast with some Pepsi as Meg declares, “Let gameday begin!”
