To understand U.S. consumers’ actual preferences, Pepsi commissioned third-party blind taste tests to discover how burgers from three U.S. chains paired with different beverages. The results: participants preferred Pepsi over Coke.

#BetterWithPepsi came from this insight. We decided that there needed to be an unmissable kick off moment so big that even those burger chains that normally don’t pour Pepsi, and all the soda drinkers who eat there, couldn’t help but see.

There is an unspoken cultural truth that was tapped into for the campaign, which is that for 30+ years, the top three U.S. burger chains have denied consumers the opportunity to enjoy their burgers with Pepsi due to exclusivity deals with Coke.

In addition to creating an unmissable moment, we wanted to:

1. Steal 1 share point (or more) from the competition.

2. Improve social engagement between consumers and the Pepsi brand.

Despite Pepsi winning head-to-head taste tests, the brand remains a challenger to Coke in the U.S., averaging 30-40% share historically. In the summer of 2021, Pepsi wanted to dominate the Summer burger-eating season by reminding consumers what can improve their burgers. The answer is not the sandwich ingredients, but a crisp, refreshing Pepsi.

One of the biggest and most frequent burger occasions in the U.S. is the restaurant meal, but for decades Pepsi had been locked out of competing at the top burger chains due to exclusivity deals with Coke.

We decided that there needed to be an unmissable kick off moment so even those burger chains that normally don’t pour Pepsi, and all the soda drinkers who eat there, couldn’t help but see.

We wanted to lean into the tension of the U.S. exclusivity deals, the insight that burgers taste better with Pepsi and embrace our challenger spirit, while being provocative in bringing the concept of #BetterWithPepsi to life.

In summer 2021, Pepsi acted on this insight, setting out to dominate the summer burger eating season by showing burger chains, and their soda-drinking customers, that a crisp refreshing Pepsi could improve their burgers.

The effort’s core creative component was the paper artwork that uncovered Pepsi’s logo in the burger wrappers. With three key images, the campaign was simple, yet unforgettable, resulting in global reach despite being created for the U.S. market. OOH images of the expertly re-crafted burger wrappers were strategically placed outside the burger giant’s headquarters and stores. They also ran on The New York Post and social media, showing consumers that while Pepsi isn’t on the menu, it’s in the picture.

Pepsi commissioned a third-party blind taste test to discover how burgers from 3 U.S. chains paired with different beverages. The results: participants preferred Pepsi over Coke.

But burger chains have denied consumers the opportunity to enjoy their food the optimal way, due to exclusivity deals with Coke. We wanted to lean into this tension and be provocative in bringing the concept to life.

By expertly re-crafting the top burger chains’ wrappers and running the poster images across OOH, print and social media, Pepsi unapologetically poked the burger giants on #NationalBurgerDay and revealed how even when Pepsi isn’t on the menu, it’s always in the picture.

The core building block of the initiative was the paper artwork that uncovered Pepsi’s logo in the wrappers of the top burger chains. With three key images, the campaign was simple, yet unforgettable, resulting in global reach despite being created for the U.S. market.

The campaign caused an instant shakeup within the cola wars, with Adweek claiming it as the brand’s best work in years— arguably ever. It achieved 3.6 billion impressions, driven across the ecosystem including OOH, Twitter, programmatic (TMZ, Radar Online, Perez Hilton), and print.

With 1.3MM Twitter engagements at an 11% engagement rate, engagement was 720% higher than the typical Pepsi trademark benchmark of 1.34%.

The OOH drove 1.16M impressions across NYC, LA, Dublin OH, Miami and Chicago, with the New York Post print driving an additional 181K impressions.

The simple, yet expertly crafted reminder also led to a 29% increase in brand consideration and a 1.1-point share swing from Coke vs YAGO— exponential in a $29B category.

Overall, the campaign performed well when compared to the 3-month rolling benchmark, achieving the equivalent of 83% of impressions over the span of a quarter in just five days.