Pepsi Max “Oh Africa”

Despite making an appearance in the viral charts this has not been quite as big a success as Pepsi would have hoped for. The video still sits under the 1 million mark for views and is very much shadowed by some more than impressive World Cup adverts from the likes of Nike – Write your future, Carlsberg Don’d Do Team Talks, and even Coca Cola’s celebration viral featuring the official World Cup song!

Now compared to the likes of those adverts, all striking the same World Cup theme – this clip from Pepsi has failed to get as wide a reach than the others. Not for the lack of trying though, the campaign features Lampard, Drogba, Arshavin, Kaka, Messi and Akon…certainly some big names there, but it lacks the same level of interest than the others and seems to rely on the quality of the big names involved to make it viral rather than the content of the ad.

There is no real tricks or flare from the players and the concept is a little strange and unexplained to say the least…Im not expecting an introduction middle and end here, but why are they all in Africa without enough money to buy a can of pepsi even? An overly cynical critique perhaps and its not dreadful by any means, but it does not make me excited about the World Cup or the brand – Pepsi Max. Something has not quite worked here for pepsi, who are renowned for creating some pretty special World Cup adverts.