Despite taste tests proving burgers taste better with Pepsi, the brand is barred from U.S. burger chains due to exclusivity deals. Through brilliant visuals and PR, Pepsi proved while it’s not on the menu, it’s always in the picture, and always the preferred cola.

The #BetterWithPepsi platform launched May 2021, setting the stage for #NationalBurgerDay which went viral, driving 3.6 billion earned impressions across 200 unique media placements. Adweek called it the brand’s best work ever. Showcased on NBC, Campaign, USA Today, Forbes, Fox News, The Drum, Ad Age and more, it was the brand’s most shared campaign of all-time.

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 was a proactive campaign that 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. Pepsi wanted to lean into this tension.

By expertly folding burger wrappers of the top three US chains, we poked the burger giants on #NationalBurgerDay, revealing how even when Pepsi isn’t on the menu, it’s always in the picture.

We wanted to lean into the tension of the U.S. exclusivity deal, 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.

Building on the initial announcement of #BetterwithPepsi, PR executed a rollout focused on hero-ing unique challenger assets and a timely consumer promotion.

In the week leading up to the announcement on May 26th, PR secured several key interviews with high-value national marketing and trade press including Ad Age, Adweek, Beverage Digest, Digiday and Marketing Dive. PR conducted embargoed outreach to targeted consumer, lifestyle and general news press, resulting in top national and regional placements spanning coast-to-coast at launch. PR strategically targeted national and regional writers – specifically those whose stories receive syndication – to reach larger audiences across broader areas.

PR continuously refreshed the approach day after day to make the news relevant for press; highlighting celebrity-themed tweets (Wendy Williams, Norm Macdonald, Andy King) and the Page Six advertisement – plus the b-roll asset late Thursday – generating additional coverage from lifestyle, regional and national broadcast, F+B and tradepress

With over 3.6 billion earned impressions generated on behalf of the campaign, #BetterWithPepsi caused an instant shake up in the cola wars and became the brand’s most shared campaign of all time. As a real-time response campaign with a short running period, the campaign’s simple yet unforgettable images generated reactions from across the globe.

Coverage was not only incredibly positive, securing 100% positive-neutral sentiment across all features, it also netted an average of 50% message pull-through of the brand’s carefully crafted key messages throughout. Additionally, the brand was able to break through a crowded press moment typically reserved for roundups, and one in three stories secured featured Pepsi as the lead or sole brand covered. It was picked up by national publications including USA Today, NBC, Newsweek, Forbes and Fox News, and deemed a “genius move” by Mashed and an “ad masterpiece” by The BBBuzz. Adweek also claimed it as the best Pepsi campaign in years— arguably ever.

The simple reminder that the campaign provided 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 #BetterWithPepsi execution 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 5 days.