Don’t Call It a Campaign: ‘Hip-Hop Made Sprite What It Is’

You don’t have to know who Millie Jackson is to celebrate hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.

The rulebook doesn’t demand that fans had to listen to the Jay-Z/Nas “Ether” battle on Hot 97, play “If I Could Go” in their car or hear half of New York’s rap royalty call her “Ma” to appreciate Angie Martinez. You don’t have to know why Kriss Kross wore their clothes backwards or how Goodie Mob, Fat Joe, Common, Mack-10 or Afrika Bambaataa formed Voltron.

You don’t have to get suburban schoolkids singing along to lyrics from your ad featuring Kurtis Blow—and recall them by heart well into middle age. 

None of the above is essential for appreciating half a century of hip-hop, which celebrates that milestone birthday on Aug. 11. But if you want to make deep connections between your brand and the culture without you having to call it “authentic,” all of the above helps.

This summer, Sprite celebrated hip-hop’s 50th by bringing back brand veterans Rakim and Nas (on the stoop he shared with AZ in ‘97, no less) and pairing them with more recent Sprite pitchwoman Latto (who played a pandemic-driven Live from the Label virtual show for Sprite in 2021) and breakout Memphis “F.N.F.” rapper GloRilla for a reworking of The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.”

The spots were created by 2022 Adweek Breakthrough Agency of the Year Majority, who’ve worked with Sprite on other campaigns amid its remarkably resilient rebrand of the last year.

The campaign also featured a partnership with Drake on his It’s All a Blur tour, merchandise drops (including Drake tickets) and a new Sprite flavor—the strawberry-infused Lymonade Legacy. While other brands like Adidas and Timberland can also trace a strong hip-hop lineage, Sprite is using its past work to help shape the culture’s future.

“Sprite has no intention of leaving hip-hop’s side,” said A.P. Chaney, Sprite’s director of creative strategy. “We were one of the first brands that went into the space—when it was deemed a subculture and nobody wanted to take a chance on it—but 2023 and beyond is really about pushing the endless possibilities of hip-hop and how it’s fully entrenched in our culture.”

The world is yours

In 1999, Sprite teamed up with Eve, Mia X, Angie Martinez and Amil on a series of ads based on Shaw Brothers kung-fu movies featuring the Venom Mob. Fighting against Kool Keith for much of the campaign, the foursome eventually reveals their nemesis to be their master—mother of hip-hop Millie Jackson.

In a year when Amil, Lauryn Hill, Faith Evans, Solé and Missy Elliott all made appearances in Billboard’s year-end Hot 100, it was a statement by Sprite about the growing power of women in the genre.

It was also the year GloRilla was born. Inspired by drill godfather Chief Keef, signed by Memphis heavyweight Yo Gotti and featuring Latto, Cardi B, Moneybagg Yo and Lil Durk on her tracks and remixes, Glo’s 2023 has seen her as the soundtrack of Method Man’s house and a prominently named drop on Nas’ new album. For hip-hop’s 50th, she also joined Sprite’s long line of legends.

“They stand for hip-hop, they support hip-hop, and the other thing I appreciate is that they’ll shine a light on hip-hop because a lot of brands don’t do that,” GloRilla told Adweek. “I’ve been a Sprite fan for a long time—I drink Sprite in my dressing room when I’m getting ready—and [a product I endorse] has to be something I like and I actually deal with and relate to.”

While Sprite’s hip-hop lineage includes notables like Heavy D, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest and Brand Nubian’s Grand Puba—who allegedly coined the soft drink’s “Obey Your Thirst” slogan—the latest campaign doesn’t so much pass the mic from Nas and Rakim as it cements Glo and Latto’s place in Sprite and hip-hop’s future.

“Being a Black woman and a creative director on a brand like Sprite, I would be remiss not to be inclusive of female hip-hop and rappers,” Chaney said. “Creative direction and hip-hop are very much one of the same: It’s not a place that Black women are supposed to be, then we come up in spaces in places and show up and show out.”

Paid in full

But hip-hop hasn’t just been about the music or artists in generations. You can go back 25 years to Sprite ads featuring Missy, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan to see how the brand reacted to the culture’s connection to sports and trace a line to its spots featuring Trae Young and Anthony Edwards today.

Sprite partnered with Complex to do an AI activation around the campaign. It’s partnered with Hamilton on the varsity jackets that have become a staple of the culture. They’ve teamed with Revolt to give away albums signed by Diddy. 

Since 2020, Sprite has received a boost from hip-hop through Coca-Cola strategic partner McDonald’s Famous Orders, with both Travis Scott and Saweetie picking Sprite as their drink of choice. Even Glo’s love for the brand grew organically.

“My mama is a big Sprite fan—my mama would choose Sprite over any drink—and she just used to buy it a lot,” she said. “When you’re a kid, you just drink whatever your mama drinks, so I grew up on it at all the cookouts.”

To keep itself relevant within the culture, Chaney said Sprite just keeps listening to its consumers and keeping “our ear to the streets.” The brand pays attention to what they’re listening to and posting, and as a result has delved into hip-hop’s own subcultures within trap music and alt rap. 

“It added credibility for consumers in a way that they felt that, ‘This is a brand that sees me.’ We weren’t just advertising for the sake of advertising,” Chaney said. “Hip-hop made Sprite what it is today.”