Brands Ready for Super Bowl
When the whistle blows to end the first half of Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, the players will head for the locker rooms and the field will be transformed for what is sure to be one of the most-watched musical events of the year – the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show featuring Grammy Award-winning artist Bruno Mars.
Mars is a critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, producer and musician. The 14-time Grammy Award nominee and Grammy winner has sold over 115 million singles worldwide.
When the show is over, Mars will be part of a long list of former Super Bowl halftime performers that includes Paul McCarthy, Prince and Beyoncé, who last year headlined the Pepsi-sponsored halftime show that attracted more than 110 million viewers across the United States and helped make Pepsi the most talked about Super Bowl advertiser on social media.
“Hyping for Halftime”
This year Pepsi is not waiting for Super Bowl Sunday to get fans hyped for the halftime show. The brand has launched a comprehensive campaign to get music and sports fans in the halftime spirit with new advertising and consumer activations to generate excitement through unexpected halftime moments.
“Pepsi's deep-rooted heritage in sports and music aligns with the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show, which is the ultimate intersection of sports and music and one of the most watched and highly-anticipated entertainment events of the year,” said Lou Arbetter, senior director, Pepsi Productions.
Pepsi has helped music and sports fans “Get Hyped for Halftime” by bringing the spirit of halftime to unexpected places.
Surprising the town of Milligan, Neb.—the U.S. geographic halfway point—with a halftime concert featuring country music star Lee Brice. With a population of just 345, Milligan may never play host to a Super Bowl halftime, but Pepsi brought the excitement of halftime to the town with a surprise performance by Brice.
Super Bowl IV was the first to feature a solo artist at halftime when singer Carol Channing was invited to headline the show. History repeated itself when Pepsi asked the now 92-year-old Channing back to surprise fan Rory O’Connor with an encore performance. O’Connor, who had seen Channing’s original halftime show when he was stationed in New Orleans as a young sailor in the U.S. Navy, was surprised when Channing led a halftime performance in the middle of a bingo game he was attending.
For years, music’s biggest stars have been bringing music to sports’ biggest stage. This year Pepsi is flipping the script. The brand will be bringing some of sports’ biggest stars to music’s biggest night, showing consumers on January 26 the brand’s idea of what a GRAMMY Halftime Show could look like.
“When you boil it down, halftime is a spontaneous celebration and that is quintessentially a ‘Live for NOW’ moment,” said Arbetter. “We want fans everywhere to experience that feeling of halftime, while ‘Getting Hyped for Halftime’ on Super Bowl Sunday as well.
According to Arbetter, Pepsi will continue to stage halftime moments right up until Super Bowl Sunday.
Doritos Crashes the Super Bowl
Earlier this year Doritos, another PepsiCo brand, invited fans to submit 30-second, homemade Doritos television commercials as part of its highly successful “Crash the Super Bowl” contest that will air two ads during Super Bowl XLVIII—one selected by the world’s votes and one by the Doritos brand team.
Fans are invited to vote for the best ad at www.doritos.com from January 4 through January 29.
The two lucky winners will have the opportunity to work with Marvel Studios on the set of “Marvel’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and, for the first time in Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” history, the creator of the ad that receives the most fan votes will win a guaranteed $1 million in prize money.
This year is the first time PepsiCo’s Doritos brand has opened its “Crash the Super Bowl” contest to fans from around the world where Doritos tortilla chips are sold. Visit www.doritos.com for full contest rules, and to view the five finalists and vote for your favorite ad.