Special Australia and the Glue Society have transformed every Pepsi logo – on cans, on billboards, vending machines, in films, in social, anywhere – into a portal to an alternative universe called the Pepsi-verse.
The Pepsi-verse is a wonderfully strange place where socks are never lost, no one can ruin the plot twist and aliens don’t abduct you, they entertain you. To find it, people hold a scanner on their phone up to any Pepsi logo to open a portal on screen in its place, revealing a moment inside the Pepsi-Verse. Every logo becomes a different media channel, in film, social and outdoor and people will also be able to get various unusual glimpses into the universe – each one showing how things work there very differently and in an entertainingly better way.
“Pepsi Max is a brand that wants to be known for championing progressive and alternative thinking and this campaign is the perfect platform to do it,” stated Vandita Pandey, chief marketing officer. PepsiCo. “We are so excited to now create a whole universe of our own that literally lets us demonstrate the fun and positivity that comes from thinking about life in an alternative way.”
“It’s rare you get to say you’re excited to be creating an alternate reality, particularly one that transforms something as iconic as every Pepsi can and logo into a way of visiting it,” stated Julian Schreiber, chief creative officer & partner, Special. “Even the way the content for the universe has been created is very alternative in style from what you’ve ever seen before from the brand itself.”
“And this is just the beginning of what people will see in the Pepsi-verse,” added Tom Martin, chief creative officer & partner, Special. “People will see only some parts in their socials and on TV, but there’s bespoke content and digital experiences that you can only get by using the portal yourself.”
Content on television, cinema and social media will announce the new universe and the portal, inviting people to scan and search for more. And more fresh content and glimpses of the Pepsi-verse keep being launched, rewarding people for picking up a can and visiting the Pepsi-verse again and again.
To try out the scanner yourself with any Pepsi logo visit meanwhileinthepepsi-verse.com on your mobile device.
Special became PepsiCo’s lead agency of record last July following a fully competitive pitch, working on Pepsi Max as well as a wider portfolio of brands.
Credits:
Client: Pepsi Max
Chief Marketing Officer Snacks & Beverages: Vandita Pandey
Head of Marketing Beverages: Tracy Hardwick
Marketing Lead: Jamie Bruce
Marketing Manager: Tiana Handel
Brand Managers: Candy Wong & Anita Cheng
Consumer Insights Planner: Judith Meyers
Agency: Special Australia
Chef Creative Officers & Partners: Julian Schreiber & Tom Martin
Chief Executive Officers & Partners: Lindsey Evans & Cade Heyde
Chief Strategy Officer & Partner: Dave Hartmann
Creative Directors & Creatives: Toby Moore, Luke Thompson & Noah Regan
Designer: Bella Plush
Team Lead: Michelle Braslin
Business Director: Maddie Armstrong
Senior Producer: Bill Doig
Creative Technologist: Laurent Marcus
Head of Film and Content Production: Sevda Cemo
Executive Producer: Paul Johnson
Head of Stills & Digital Production: Nick Lilley
Senior Integrated Producer: Sonia Ebrington
Social Integrated Producer: Steph Wilkinson
Social Films Editor: Fraser Kelton
Digital Director: James Simmons
Digital Producer: Greg Thai
Writers’ Room: Special x The Glue Society
Tom Martin, Paul Bruty, Julian Schreiber, Pete Baker, Toby Moore, Millicent Malcolm, Luke Thompson, Luke Nuto, Bella Plush, Noah Regan, Jonathon Kneebone, Laurent Marcus
Production Company: Revolver
Directing Collective: The Glue Society
Directors: Paul Bruty, Luke Nuto & Millicent Malcolm
Managing Director & Co-Owner: Michael Ritchie
Executive Producer & Partner: Pip Smart
Executive Producer: Jasmin Helliar
Producer: Nicole Crozier
Director of Photography: Dale Bremner
Production Designer: Damien Drew
Wardrobe: Olivia Simpson
Post Production: The Glue Society Studios
Post Producer, Colourist, Animator, Online Compositor: Scott Stirling
Editor: Luke Crethar
Lead Animator & VFX Compositor: Svetoslav Atanasov
VFX Compositors: Andy Lion & Viv Baker
Digital Production Partner: Unbound
