Pepsi, the carbonated beverage, has had many advertising spokespersons over the years. PepsiCo's other drink brands, including Mountain Dew and Gatorade, also have a variety of famous spokespersons.
History
United States
Joan Crawford was married to PepsiCo president Alfred Steele from 1955 to 1959 (his death), and was advertising executive and board of directors member from 1959 to 1973.
During the 1960s, Joanie Sommers sang two popular commercial songs ("It's Pepsi, for those who think young" and "Now you see it, now you don't, oh, Diet Pepsi") for Pepsi-Cola that were run in commercials and for which she came to be often referred to as "The Pepsi Girl."
In 1983, Michael Jackson signed a contract with Pepsi that produced many commercials and world tours through 1993.
In 1986 Michael J Fox appeared in the first of several Pepsi commercials. The first sees him as a student in a library using the power of suggestion to get himself a Pepsi. The second in 1987 sees Fox fight his way though traffic on a rainy night to get his new female neighbour a Diet Pepsi. This advert was also notable for its running time at being one minute and thirty seconds long and the music by Kenny Loggins. Fox's last Pepsi commercial was in 1990.
During the 1989 Grammy Awards telecast, Pepsi and Puerto Rican singer Chayanne was featured in the first advertising spot in Spanish to be broadcast on national television without dubbing or subtitles.
Spokesperson issues
The first international popstar to become a spokesperson for the drink was Michael Jackson, who along with his brothers (The Jackson 5) advertised Pepsi for "the new generation" in an advertisement featuring a reworking of his song "Billie Jean". However, when filming a second advertisement in 1984, a pyrotechnics stunt went wrong and badly burnt Jackson.
In 1987, David Bowie and Tina Turner joined forces to advertise the soft drink, in an advertisement featuring a reworking of Bowie's hit "Modern Love." The company also agreed to sponsor Bowie's 1987 Glass Spider World Tour. Bowie was accused of sexual assault shortly afterwards, and the company dropped the advertisements immediately. Two years later, Pepsi's attempts to make Madonna a new Pepsi spokesperson ended with the infamous "Like a Prayer" incident when Madonna's video brought charges of anti-Catholicism to the company.
In August 2002, Pepsi pulled a national, 30-second commercial featuring multiplatinum rapper Ludacris from the air after Fox's Bill O'Reilly called for a boycott of the soft drink company. O'Reilly characterized Pepsi as "immoral" for using the rapper, whom he described as a "rap thug." O'Reilly referenced several of Ludacris's lyrics, which he said emphasized a lifestyle that included getting intoxicated, selling drugs, fighting people, and degrading women. The issue resurfaced when Pepsi began to run ads with The Osbournes, a move that Russell Simmons, head of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network categorized as racially insensitive. The company maintained that Ludacris was an inappropriate spokesman because of his usage of language, but Simmons and the HHSAN contended that the Osbournes use of language was just as unacceptable. The final accord reached between the two parties had Pepsi make an annual contribution of $1 million to the Ludacris Foundation (an organization that helps middle and high school students motivate themselves in creative arts) for three years.
References
- Chris Jordan. 'Pepsi girl' Hallie Kate Eisenberg plays Helen Keller in movie The Seattle Times, November 7, 2000, retrieved July 16, 2010^
- Introducing … Ringtone Music Videos! Stereogum, 2006-05-15, retrieved 2016-09-29^
- New Original Ringtones by Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige and The All-American Rejects Now Available