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No drink accompanies a cheesy, fatty burger quite like an ice-cold sip of fizzy cola. But since fast-food restaurants are just another battleground in the cola wars, they typically only offer one choice between Coca-Cola or Pepsi on tap, rarely both.
To hammer home its long-standing “Better With Pepsi” food pairing platform, Pepsi fired shots last week during National Fast-Food Day, aiming for chains that exclusively serve Coke with “Undercover Cups.”
The message? Burgers deserve Pepsi.
The guerilla-style marketing campaign from BBDO has Pepsi switching out branded McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King cups with ones featuring revised, Pepsi-tinged logos. Naturally, the liquid inside has been replaced, too.
A cheeky social film shows Pepsi’s team of delivery agents surprising customers with the undercover cups.
Putting its own playful twist on the iconography of the three chains, Pepsi’s revised branding shows a blue-haired version of Wendy’s famous pigtailed mascot sipping on a Pepsi. Another cup transforms McDonald’s iconic golden ‘M’ arches into two ‘Ps’. The Burger King pastiche, meanwhile, sandwiches the words ‘This is Pepsi’ between two buns.
While it might be risky business to co-opt another company’s branding, Pepsi’s head of brand marketing, Jenny Danzi, told ADWEEK the activation was a long-term play, rather than a headline grabber.
“This more than a stunt; it’s a bold statement with a clear business intent to drive association with food,” she explained.
She said the brand was “laser-focused on leveraging the power of food pairing and situational salience” to showcase how Pepsi could enhance the taste of food — in this case, burgers.
“By challenging the status quo with breakthrough creative, we’re driving a reaction and response from consumers, and will continue to build brand recall during food occasions, program by program. We’re just getting started,” Danzi added.
As it looks to 2025, Pepsi hopes it can reclaim market share after Dr Pepper surpassed it in 2023 to become America’s second favorite soft drink, behind Coca-Cola. In volume sales, Dr Pepper now controls 8.34% of the U.S. soft drink category, compared to Pepsi’s 8.31%.
Better with Pepsi?
“Undercover Cups” builds on the work BBDO, which Pepsi recently rekindled its relationship with, has been doing to cement the brand’s status as the ultimate soda to pair with fast food.
