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Kelly Murray

Professor Hillary Jones

SPC 3544

24 September 2018

Pepsi Comparative Media Analysis

In our society today, there are countless forms of media that are employed in order to

persuade consumers towards a wide array of products. New inventions are created and come to

light on a day to day basis. Many products that are shown in advertisements involve new forms

of technology. With an overwhelming amount of electronic products on the market covering

advertisements, I decided to create an analysis for a more classic product, that has spanned

across our consumer markets for decades. Pepsi Cola is a soda beverage that can be considered a

classic product by most. Advertisements for Pepsi products are featured across nations all over

the world. If a person lives in America, it is a safe assumption that he or she has had a taste of

this soda before. Since it has been around for such a long time, advertisements for The Pepsi

Company are forced to be creative and think outside of the box in order to capture enough

attention to make marketing costs worth their while. To analyze how the persuasive messages

about Pepsi change through different media, I have selected a method of product placement in a

film, a television advertisement, and a print advertisement. In my opinion, the persuasive

messages differ from drinking what is hip or popular at the time, to taking an activist stand with

Pepsi through persuasion methods of celebrity selling power, age, culture and ultimate goals of

the advertisement.
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In order to achieve a proper understanding of the product itself, I conducted background

research on the Pepsi company. Pepsi is owned by a larger corporation called Pepsico. The Pepsi

soda product itself was created on August 28, 1898 (Our History). This leads me to conclude that

Pepsi’s main goal in advertising is most likely to stay relevant and capture attention. I also know

that The Coca-Cola Company is Pepsi’s biggest competitor. This adds another motive behind

their advertisements. Pepsi must set themselves apart from Coca-Cola in order to capture

attention and create profit. They need an edge that will boost the company in the eyes of the

competitive market.

The first advertisement with a persuasive message that I decided to analyze is Pepsi’s

skillful product placement in the movie franchise, “Twilight”. “Twilight” started out as a popular

young adult novel written by Stephanie Meyer in 2005 (Twilight). The novel became popular

among teens and young girls due to its romantic storyline and fantasy plot. The main characters

are vampires and werewolves that are noticeably attractive. Summit Entertainment gained rights

to a film version of “Twilight” and it was expected to be a smash hit in box offices around the

country. The Pepsi company did not miss a beat in the opportunity to partner with this franchise.

They created a product placement deal that would catch the attention of tweens around the

nation. I closely studied the use of Pepsi in this film in order to achieve a pure understanding of

the persuasion methods behind Pepsi’s partnership with the “Twilight” franchise.

Pepsi can be clearly seen in an array of scenes in the original “Twilight” movie, most of

which involve the “it” high school crowd holding or drinking it. The first time that Pepsi is

shown occurs during Bella Swan’s first day at her new high school in Forks, Washington. She

has been befriended by some of the popular kids in school and has been invited to sit with them
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at lunch. As she begins to take a seat at the table, her popular new friends are seen with Pepsi

cans as their beverage of choice for lunch. They are giggling, gossiping and drinking gleaming

silver cans with the Pepsi logo facing the camera. The next time that Pepsi is shown on screen, it

is in a montage of events that are occurring to Bella. Edward has not shown up to school in

several days and she looks for him during all hours of the day. Once again at the lunch table,

there is a close up view of her looking distressed, and two cans of Pepsi are on either side of her

lunch tray. She then longingly looks over at the popular Cullen family’s table, and one of the

attractive male stars is shown to be drinking a Pepsi as well. Later on in the movie it is stated that

vampires do not have the need or desire to eat or drink, but they still had Pepsi surrounding them

at their high school lunch table.

One of the most obvious forms of persuasion that I believe Pepsi was using during their

product placement was celebrity selling power. Our course textbook explains that celebrity

selling power occurs when a celebrity endorses or is seen using a product (Gass & Seiter). In

“Twilight”, the main actress, Kristen Stewart, is seen drinking Pepsi and often times she is

surrounded by it. Our class textbook states that through the ​third person effect, ​“celebrity

endorsements improved consumers’ attitudes toward endorsed products.” (Gass & Seiter 84).

Other popular and idolized characters are also seen supporting the product, which urges young

and impressionable viewers to share in indulging in this product. When consumers see celebrities

that they identify with or look up to using easily attainable products or services, they will jump at

the opportunity to feel related to said celebrity in any way. Another form of persuasion that Pepsi

used while choosing to create a product placement deal with the “Twilight” franchise was age

demographic. The target audience of the “Twilight” film saga is known to mostly be young girls
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and teens. This is an audience that can be difficult to target when it comes to the beverage

marketing sector. Pepsi recognized an opportunity to show their product to this specific

demographic and used it to raise their company up a peg. They even created a limited edition set

of Pepsi cans that had the three most famous “Twilight” actors’ faces on them. Girls must have

been begging their parents to take them to the store in order to obtain these Pepsi products with

the faces of Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner plastered across their silver

exterior. Culture also plays a part in the persuasion methods that Pepsi used in its product

placement campaign. The popular culture in America follows along with mainstream media and

popular celebrities. Playing off of this culture and these social norms was an astute and forward

move for the Pepsi campaign. They showed impressionable young girls that in order to fit in and

make their way into the cool crowd, they should purchase and drink Pepsi like the beautiful,

popular people in Hollywood do. Persuading viewers to fit in and use a product that is relevant

and a shared favorite among their peers is a common and successful method used in order to sell

as much consumer goods as possible (Gass & Seiter 86).

The second advertisement with a persuasive message that I decided to analyze is Pepsi’s

controversial, yet attention grabbing television commercial featuring Kendall Jenner. In the past,

the Pepsi brand has been known to create television commercials that utilize celebrities as a way

to capture the attention of viewers and to popularly endorse the product. This has occured over a

span of decades, featuring marketed and favorable celebrities such as Britney Spears, Beyonce

Knowles, Michael Jackson, Cindy Crawford, and even the legendary Michael Jackson. (Our

History). Most children and many adults have fawned over these commercials in the past, taking

in every second of a celebrity carrying out a normalized action such as drinking a can of Pepsi
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Cola. To continue in this long line of tradition, Pepsi chose a celebrity that is part of America’s

most famous family: The Kardashians. “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” is a television show

that most, if not all, Americans have heard of. They have some of the most followers on their

social media platforms, and are famous for their distinct and specific look. Choosing Kendall

Jenner to be the lead in a television advertisement was a wise choice for Pepsi. Unfortunately,

the advertisement received extremely negative reviews for what was received by most as a

controversial message.

The Pepsi television commercial opens with a shot of a Pepsi can being opened by a

young man, who then proceeds to play a violin passionately. The camera then cuts away to a

scene of marchers in a protest. They are walking towards the camera with their picket signs. The

camera then moves to a shot of an artist with pictures and a can of Pepsi surrounding her while

she draws a scene with colored pencils, before cutting back to another shot of the protesters in

their march. Next on the screen is a scene of Kendall Jenner in a blonde wig at a photoshoot. She

is striking different poses as men with cameras take pictures of her. Although she is in the middle

of a photoshoot, she is distracted by the crowd that is cheering outside. After cutting between the

crowd and Kendall multiple times, the camera then shows the violinist once again. He stops

playing, picks up his can of pepsi and walks over to his balcony to watch the protestors gather.

Racially and culturally diverse members of the crowd are shown on camera drinking Pepsi.

Soon, the violinist and artist join the crowd of protestors. Kendall makes eye contact with the

violinist and he nods for her to come join them. She takes off her blonde wig, wipes off her dark

makeup, then walks outside to join the movement. She makes her way to the front of the crowd,

smiling and acknowledging people on her way up. Kendall takes a can of Pepsi out of a cooler as
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she reaches the front of the crowd. The march has stopped in front of several police officers who

are creating a barricade. She stands in front of a young male police officer. She hands him the

Pepsi and he cracks the top and takes a sip, while smiling. Kendall then rejoins the crowd of

protestors and everybody cheers and hugs.

Though controversial, I believe that the persuasive message of this advertisement showed

that we may not all agree on specific issues or share the same viewpoints, but one thing that

everyone has in common is a mutual love for Pepsi. I believe the company was trying to show

that there is positivity in every situation, and it is important to stand for what you believe in.

Pepsi created this persuasive method through many of the same methods that Twilight did,

although the message behind these two advertisements may have changed. Once again, their

advertisement used celebrity selling power to induce the third person effect. Viewers were surely

more likely to purchase Pepsi if they saw skinny supermodel Kendall Jenner drinking it. This

sector also dips into another kind of persuasion, dealing with different levels of self esteem. It

can be inferred that Kendall Jenner has high self esteem. She is from a famous family, she has

millions of social media followers, she takes countless selfies, and she is a supermodel. Kendall

Jenner might be more persuasive towards people with low self esteem who think she’s beautiful.

Our course textbook states, “People with low self-esteem may be more likely to yield to a

message because they lack condence in themselves and their opinions.” (Gass & Seiter 112).

Television viewers with low self esteem will fall for Kendall’s good looks and high self esteem.

They will likely think that if Kendall Jenner drinks Pepsi, then they can and should too. This can

once again be related back to the “Twilight” Pepsi product placement advertisement. The actors

and actresses from Twilight all appear to have high self esteem. Showing these beautiful
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celebrities drinking Pepsi products would create a wave of desire for consumers who suffer from

low self esteem, dreaming about looking and acting like cherished celebrities from Hollywood.

One aspect of this television commercial that differed from the “Twilight” franchise

product placement advertisement was the activist stance that Pepsi took with Kendall Jenner. A

large amount of popular culture in America, and even around the world, involves activism. In the

United States of America alone, there is an incredibly large amount of protests, marches,

movements and organizations that are standing up for what they believe in, and trying to make

our country a better place to live in. Knowing the advantages that may arise from using

advertisements to promote popular culture, Pepsi created this plot line in order to relate to a

particular demographic of consumers and to capture their attention. The resulting commercial

seemed to resemble one of the extremely popular and talked about “Black Lives Matter”

movement protests. Pepsi was trying to take the activist approach in this commercial, but was not

forthcoming on any particular stances. It almost seemed like Pepsi played it safe, while still

taking a risk, which is why this particular commercial received such negative reviews.

After watching this advertisement, viewers were offended because they felt it was unfair

to show a diverse crowd of protestors who ultimately send a skinny, white girl up to a cop in a

peaceful, yet bold way to keep peace. Critics of this advertisement were quick to say that if

Kendall Jenner had been a different race or a different sex, things would have gone much

differently. The reviews became so widely expressed that even Martin Luther King Jr’s daughter

took to the popular social media site, Twitter, to air out her feelings regarding the advertisement.

Bernice King posted a black and white photo of her notoriously famous father being pushed

backwards by policemen. Alongside this picture, she wrote, “If only Daddy would have known
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about the power of #Pepsi.” (Taylor). I do not think this is what Pepsi had in mind when this

persuasive message was created. This seems to be the first time that Pepsi has created a

questionable or controversial advertisement. When the meaning behind their message was

deemed to be controversial, the Pepsi company responded with a timely statement to clear the

air. This statement consisted of the following message: “This is a global ad that reflects people

from different walks of life coming together in a spirit of harmony, and we think that's an

important message to convey” (Taylor). This leads me to circle back to my initial impressions of

the advertisement and my suspected purpose of this commercial. We are all different and entitled

to stand up for what we believe in, but we also have certain things in common as well. These

common interests should be focused on, and one of them is Pepsi because it is mutually loved.

Through television advertisements, rather than product placement, Pepsi was able to change their

persuasion message from fitting in with the popular crowd to finding something in common with

people who oppose your viewpoints, all while standing up for your cause. This persuasion

method created a more activist approach as opposed to a popularity approach.

The final advertisement with a persuasive message that I decided to analyze is a print

advertisement that was part of a campaign that Pepsi created back in 2010. This campaign was

named, “The Pepsi Refresh Project” and it was also what seemed to be an activist movement.

This advertisement has been strategically split vertically into two different sections, to cover two

different aspects of the campaign. On the left side of this advertisement is a picture, and the right

side contains a question followed by a paragraph explanation. The picture illustrates a young

African American woman, smiling and holding up a bright blue sign. She appears to be standing

in a bush and is surrounded by greenery. The sign reads, “I CARE ABOUT KEEPING GREEN
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THINGS GREEN.” (Pepsi: Refresh Project). The other half of the print advertisement is the

same color blue as the sign the young woman is holding. In large white letters, the ad asks,

“WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT?” (Pepsi: Refresh Project). Each letter “O” has been replaced

with the circular red, white and blue Pepsi logo. Underneath this question, there is a paragraph

explaining what “The Pepsi Refresh Project” is. Pepsi states that they will give millions to “fund

ideas that will refresh the world” (Pepsi: Refresh Project) and follows up by asking the reader to

think about what the care about. The advertisement brings the reader a call to action with the

phrase “do something about it at refresheverything.com” (Pepsi: Refresh Project). At the bottom

of the advertisement, three different colored cans of Pepsi are shown next to the slogan “every

Pepsi refreshes the world” (Pepsi: Refresh Project).

I believe that the persuasive message in this advertisement is once again to stand up for

what you believe in, but this time there is a motive behind the action. If consumers who view this

advertisement want to enter their idea into the campaign, then they are more than welcome to.

Additionally, if a person does not believe that they are creative enough to enter an idea into

Pepsi’s Refresh Project campaign, then he or she has every ability to vote on other ideas that are

already in the submissions list. The public ultimately is granted the ability to decide who should

be given the Pepsi grant to fund his or her idea.

As opposed to both the product placement advertisements in the “Twilight” movie

franchise and the Kendall Jenner television commercial advertisement, this print Pepsi

advertisement does not consist of any celebrity star power. While there is not a clear influence of

a famous figure to persuade a consumer to drink Pepsi, there is an opportunity to gain star power

within the Pepsi company and community. The winner of the Pepsi Refresh Project will most
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likely become famous within the company, and slightly famous outside of the company. Surely

there will be multiple interviews and photographs of the winner. He or she will receive the grant

that was sought after for the brilliant movement idea that was chosen, and most likely will

become wealthy or prosper from this opportunity. I think this is without a doubt one of the

persuasion methods that Pepsi executives had in the back of their minds when this movement

was created. It spreads the word about the Pepsi company and gives Pepsi a chance to give back

to the many loyal consumers that exist in the marketplace.

Another persuasion strategy that was used in this print advertisement is based off of

cultural values. The challenge that this Pepsi advertisement is presenting requires a strong

minded individual with clever and powerful ideas. This is an advertisement that appears to be

more appealing towards American consumers. Americans in general identify with more of an

individualistic culture. Our course textbook states that, “People in individualistic cultures tend to

value independence and the goals of the individual over the goals of a collective.” (Gass & Seiter

110). The Pepsi company is aware of our country’s tendency to value personal goals and

accomplishments. In this advertisement specifically, the company used this independence trait as

leverage or a way to motivate consumers to get involved in the Pepsi Refresh Project. Research

has been conducted on individualistic advertisements and the results showed advertisements that

“appealed to individual benets, personal success, and independence were used more in the

United States”(Gass & Seiter 110) because the persuasion and success rates were much higher

than they were for collectivistic advertisements.

One important and unique message that I believe The Pepsi Company is trying to get

across is that the consumer can take this ad into his or her own hands. Because of this unique
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campaign, Pepsi customers have the power to decide what Pepsi should do with a rather large

grant. Unlike the previous two advertisements I have analyzed, this print advertisement actually

allows customers to feel powerful in regards to the company. I think that this is a clear advantage

of the print advertisement’s message. Print advertisements allow consumers to respond and

interact with companies. When I watch “Twilight”, I cannot talk to the actors or actresses who

are drinking Pepsi products, and when I watch Kendall Jenner’s commercial, I cannot march

along with her or stop her from handing out a Pepsi. Contrastingly, if I saw this Pepsi Refresh

Project advertisement in a magazine or on a flyer, I would have the ability to respond to The

Pepsi Company and let them know how I feel or what I think they should do. This is a message

that is much harder to send through other mediums.

Similarly to the kind of persuasion strategy that was shown in the Kendall Jenner

television advertisement, cultural activism is also illustrated in this print advertisement. This

print advertisement specifically asks the reader what he or she cares about. Part of the

advertisement is even an example of an activist issue that is relevant to Pepsi’s Refresh Project

movement. As I have previously stated, activist issues have been extremely popular in the last

decade. Political and social activists have used social media platforms in order to spread the

word about their causes. Pepsi took their campaign a step further and created a public series of

print advertisements in order to spread the word that their company is supportive of these kinds

of issues and movements. The woman in the advertisement gave an example to pave the way in

which the suggested grant ideas should be brainstormed and sent in. As a result of this

advertisement and campaign, Pepsi announced that their company’s Pepsi Refresh Project had

given out a total of 32 grants to a total of 32 recipients for a “total of $1.3 million to refresh the
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world”. (PepsiCo Press Release). This cultural activism strategy created a persuasive message

that showed consumers that The Pepsi Company really does care about them and the world as a

whole.

As opposed to the “Twilight” saga product placement advertisements, the age

demographic for this print advertisement was aimed high, towards older and more mature

consumers. It would not be logical for Pepsi representatives and executives to ask anyone below

the age or 16 to 18 to create an idea for a grant opportunity. Adults are aware of what this

particular print advertisement is asking of them, but children would not be if they read the ad.

Our course text shows that “until age eight, children do not understand the persuasive nature of

advertising.” (Gass & Seiter 108). This explains why the targeted age demographic for Pepsi’s

Refresh Project was aimed towards intelligent adults. Overall, I believe that the persuasive

message of this advertisement was urging consumers to trust the Pepsi company, because Pepsi

cares about the world and is willing to help aid activist movements.

In summation, many companies have similar messages of persuasions for their products

even throughout changing mediums. In all three Pepsi advertisements that I chose, there were

similarities. I believe that Pepsi pays attention to popular culture and listens to what its

consumers want. The Pepsi Company seeks leverage through its celebrity starpower, targets the

most sensible audiences depending on their advertisements, and is not afraid to stand up for

activist causes. Where I found similarities, though, I also discovered differences between each

form of medium. A product placement advertisement cannot speak, it can only illustrate the

product. A commercial cannot talk directly to the consumer because the commercial does not

know who is watching. A print advertisement, on the contrary, has the ability to specify their
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audience and to purposely speak to the consumer. I believe that print advertisements may not be

as entertaining as product placement advertisements or television commercials, but the

persuasive messages of print advertisement are the strongest because they are the most reachable

in the eyes of the consumer. After comparing all three forms of mediums, I have come to the

conclusion that the persuasive messages differ from drinking what is hip or popular at the time,

to taking an activist stand with Pepsi through persuasion methods of celebrity selling power, age,

culture and ultimate goals of the advertisement. (Word Count: 4,008)

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Works Cited

Gass, Robert H., and John S. Seiter. Persuasion : Social Influence and Compliance Gaining,

Routledge, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central,

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/usf/detail.action?docID=5257682​.

KendallnKylie. “Kendall Jenner for PEPSI Commercial.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Apr. 2017,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA5Yq1DLSmQ​.

“Our History.” PepsiCo, ​www.pepsico.com/About/Our-History​.

“Pepsi: Refresh Project, What Do You Care about?” RSS, 1 Feb. 2010,

www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/pepsi_refresh_project_what_do_you_care_about​.

Taylor, Kate. “Martin Luther King Jr's Daughter Just Called out Pepsi for Its Controversial Ad.”

Business Insider, Business Insider, 5 Apr. 2017,

www.businessinsider.com/martin-luther-king-jrs-daughter-calls-out-pepsi-2017-4​.

“The Pepsi Refresh Project Announces 32 New Grant Recipients to Receive a Total of $1.3

Million to Refresh the World.” PepsiCo,

www.pepsico.com/live/pressrelease/the-pepsi-refresh-project-announces-32-new-grant-re

cipients-to-receive-a-total-o04232010​.

“Twilight.” Stephenie Meyer, stepheniemeyer.com/project/twilight-book/.

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“13 Most Shameless Pepsi Product Placements In Movies - Page 6 of 14.” Scribol.com, 12 Nov.

2014,

scribol.com/pop-culture/film/13-most-shameless-pepsi-product-placements-in-movies/6/.