Pepsi Reveals Ensemble Advertising Cast for Academy Awards

Pepsi Reveals Ensemble Advertising Cast for Academy Awards

Diet Pepsi's Popular Super Bowl Commercial with Carson Kressley and Cindy Crawford Makes Encore Appearance

Pepsi Celebrates Movie Classic 'Spartacus'

Sierra Mist Launches New Campaign

PURCHASE, N.Y., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pepsi-Cola North America will take the stage on ABC's Academy Awards telecast with a lineup that includes four new commercials and two tried-and-true spots that will air during three minutes of advertising time.

A Diet Pepsi commercial featuring Carson Kressley and Cindy Crawford called "Guy Watcher," which was Pepsi's top scorer on the Super Bowl and the most-viewed 2005 Super Bowl ad on America Online, returns to the spotlight on the Academy Awards. This spot, created to air exclusively on big-event programming, debuted on the Super Bowl and will be seen for only the second time on Sunday.

Pepsi-Cola will unveil a new commercial that brings back the Academy Award-winning film "Spartacus," starring Kirk Douglas. Featuring actual footage from the film, which was originally released in 1960, the spot provides a new twist to this cinema classic. A new commercial for Diet Pepsi and two new spots for Sierra Mist also will debut on the show.

"The Academy Awards provides a great stage to try new things, such as showcasing a big-event commercial or launching a new campaign," said Dave Burwick, SVP and chief marketing officer, Pepsi-Cola North America. "And considering that the show celebrates movies, there's no better place to bring back a classic like Spartacus."

Here are details on Pepsi's advertising lineup:

Pepsi "Spartacus" (:30)


As a Roman soldier searches for the owner of a lunch bag containing a sandwich and a cold Pepsi, he quickly attracts a crowd.

Diet Pepsi "After Hours" (:30)

Thanks to the magic of computer animation, much like that used in films such as "The Incredibles" and "Toy Story," several beverages in a convenience store come to life after closing time. Some complain about the loud music that has been left on by the clerk, but one cool customer, a can of Diet Pepsi, doesn't mind at all.

Sierra Mist "Kitchen" (:30)

Party guests sneak into their host's kitchen to recover the unopened Sierra Mist they had brought to the party and are caught red-handed attempting to "un-gift."

Sierra Mist "Rock Paper Scissors" (:30)

At an office party, a game of "rock, paper, scissors" for the last Sierra Mist goes awkwardly wrong, as it's clear both participants are willing to do whatever it takes to get the last bottle.

Aquafina's "Top of the World" commercial rounds out Pepsi's six-spot rotation. This marks the seventh consecutive year that Pepsi has advertised on the Academy Awards.

New Sierra Mist Campaign

The two Sierra Mist commercials launch a new advertising campaign that combines improvisational comedy with traditional advertising. Positioned as "sitcommercials," these 30-second spots are comedy sketches packaged as TV commercials.

Experienced comic actors including Michael Ian Black, Debra Wilson, Nicole Sullivan, Jim Gaffigan, and Aries Spears improvise dialogue within everyday Sierra Mist occasions. The campaign's tagline, "It's That Refreshing," summarizes both the product's key benefit as well as the uniquely fresh, comedic tonality of the campaign. Ten episodes will air throughout the year.

Exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, special outtakes and alternative versions of the two commercials debuting Sunday night will be available at Sierra Mist's dedicated campaign Web site -- http://www.mist-takes.com/ -- immediately following the Academy Awards telecast.

About Pepsi

Purchase, N.Y.-based Pepsi-Cola North America (http://www.pepsi.com/) is the $4 billion refreshment beverage unit of PepsiCo Inc. in the United States and Canada. Its U.S. brands include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Edge, Pepsi ONE, Wild Cherry Pepsi, Pepsi Twist, Pepsi Vanilla, Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Code Red, Mountain Dew LiveWire, Sierra Mist, Sierra Mist Free, Mug, Slice, Aquafina, Dole single-serve juices, Tropicana Juice Drinks and SoBe. The company also makes and markets North America's best-selling ready-to-drink iced teas and coffees, respectively, via joint ventures with Lipton and Starbucks.


Source: Pepsi-Cola

CONTACT: Nicole Bradley of Pepsi-Cola North America, +1-914-253-2964,
nicole.bradley@pepsi.com

Web site: http://www.pepsi.com/
http://www.mist-takes.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For a videotape or screen grabs of the commercials, please contact Lisa Castaldo at 914-253-2664 or lisa.castaldo@pepsi.com.

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