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Post by respect77 on May 7, 2020 19:47:47 GMT
This is interesting. I didn't know they first went to Coke, but they didn't see it as a big opportunity because they thought the Jacksons and MJ would only appeal to "ethnic minorities". How wrong they were! Pepsi scored its biggest victory over Coke with the MJ deal.
I also think the campaign itself was clever - ie. that it suggested that Coke was for old people, while Pepsi is "the choice of the new generation". Making Pepsi cool and Coke uncool in one strike. And who was better to convey that message than MJ?
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Post by respect77 on May 7, 2020 19:54:59 GMT
Say anything you want to say about "commercialism", "selling out" bla-bla, but those Pepsi ads are legendary. Almost 40 years on, almost 100 million views on YouTube.
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Post by Snow White on May 7, 2020 23:00:59 GMT
I didn't know either, I bet Coca Cola shot themselves in the foot when they saw how successful and groundbreaking the Pepsi campaign was. MJ was the first prominent black artist to made black people look cool. The irony is that MJ apparently hated Pepsi but was spotted drinking Coke and Fanta during the Dangerous era. He may have achieved to make Pepsi look cool but it tastes like crap. Yeah, I bet he hated it! 😄😛  |
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Post by HIStoric on May 7, 2020 23:19:02 GMT
Ooh cool! Might watch that video over dinner tonight. EDIT: I did. Great doco, crazy to think how much their appearance and involvement alone boosted Pepsi's sales!
But since we're talking about them, Michael Jackson's Pepsi ads are are some of the coolest ads I've ever seen tbh and I think he approached them the best way an artist could.
I'm not a big fan of when companies use original songs in their commercials for the most part. Cover songs, eh whatever, but the originals? No thanks. I say this because over the years I was introduced to a number of famous songs/classical pieces via ads, and so now whenever I hear them I think of the original ad - which is exactly what the marketing agencies want after all. And I don't really like that. I don't care about 'selling out' or doing 'commercialism', no, I just don't want to think of terrible ads/random brands when a great song comes on. The only exception being is if the ad is really cool, and it feels more creative/fun. Then it feels more like a creative short piece than an ad, so it's better and I don't mind as much (like that Cadbury gorilla drumming ad with Phil Collin's In The Air Tonight).
Michael was great and got around that by completely changing up the lyrics for Pepsi. Whenever I listen to Billie Jean, I never think of Pepsi or the song 'Pepsi Generation'. Same with that Bad song he did for Pepsi. And funnily enough, if he DID choose to use the original song, I wouldn't mind simply because these ads were super cool and creative anyway, fun to watch many times over. I think my favourite one is Pepsi Generation, but I remember the Bad one just being super cool. Going on these crazy ass chases all over the place, doing all these stunts. It was basically a mini-movie and I know I'd watch it everytime it came on TV (even if I was a casual fan at best). Fits in brilliantly with his 'visual artist' image too - his music videos are mini-movies so why not his commercials too?
Dude could've been lazy and made some lame-ass commercial, but he did just the opposite, took it to the next level and I think these ads show the perfect way a musical artist can sell a product. No doubt he was paid a nice handsome sum too hehe.
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Post by jaywonder on May 8, 2020 9:00:07 GMT
I didn't know either, I bet Coca Cola shot themselves in the foot when they saw how successful and groundbreaking the Pepsi campaign was. MJ was the first prominent black artist to made black people look cool. The irony is that MJ apparently hated Pepsi but was spotted drinking Coke and Fanta during the Dangerous era. He may have achieved to make Pepsi look cool but it tastes like crap. Yeah, I bet he hated it! 😄😛 Not exactly the way I would've worded that....lol He was for the sure the first black artist in years that proved that black artists didn't have to be marketed differently to appeal to other audiences and proved that artists of color were marketable in the grand scheme of popular culture. When you think black artists got discriminated and received the cold shoulder here in the US on radio and TV after the disco backlash....ugh |
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Post by Snow White on May 8, 2020 15:18:37 GMT
I meant looking cool commercially speaking in the mainstream. I hadn't seen a high profile black artist representing himself or the general public in a high production value campaign before being respectful and without stereotypes. I remember watching the Air Jordan ads from the 80s for example but those came afterwards.
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Post by butterflies on May 9, 2020 18:18:00 GMT
His Pepsi commercials are awesome, they’re just like mini music videos
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
Posts: 8,490 
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Post by TonyR on May 9, 2020 19:03:08 GMT
We always talk about the Bad Pepsi but the Dangerous ones were superb.
The duetting with himself on I'll be There and the stunning Who Is It one, chasing a woman through a real life Dangerous cover.
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Post by nesboy43 on May 13, 2020 7:26:51 GMT
Wasn't there a Price of Fame Pepsi version made for the commercials (but was changed to Bad)?
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Post by butterflies on May 13, 2020 18:23:57 GMT
Yeah, it was on YouTube but I don’t think it was actually used in 87
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Post by elusivemoonwalker on May 14, 2020 18:44:35 GMT
Edit....
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Post by WildStyle on May 15, 2020 0:55:58 GMT
I haven't watched it yet, but may later. But just think of the repercussions that came from going with Pepsi instead of Coke. If they manage to broker a deal with Coke, MJ's hair doesn't catch on fire (the most likely trigger to his vitiligo outbreak and the catalyst for his use of painkillers) and he never meets the Safechuck family. It's not too much of a stretch to say that if he signed with Coke he would still be alive today. As the Bob Dylan song goes... "a simple twist of fate".
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Post by HIStoric on May 15, 2020 1:33:21 GMT
I haven't watched it yet, but may later. But just think of the repercussions that came from going with Pepsi instead of Coke. If they manage to broker a deal with Coke, MJ's hair doesn't catch on fire (the most likely trigger to his vitiligo outbreak and the catalyst for his use of painkillers) and he never meets the Safechuck family. It's not too much of a stretch to say that if he signed with Coke he would still be alive today. As the Bob Dylan song goes... "a simple twist of fate". I know what you mean. I always think about how much different things would've been if on the day he met the Chandlers, his car broke down just a mere few minutes later. Dude could've been helped by someone completely different, he might not ever have been accused of those horrible crimes in the first place, his legacy might be totally better off and he might even still be alive today. A few minutes could've completely changed everything. Mind boggling.
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Post by russtcb on May 16, 2020 14:35:37 GMT
I haven't watched it yet, but may later. But just think of the repercussions that came from going with Pepsi instead of Coke. If they manage to broker a deal with Coke, MJ's hair doesn't catch on fire (the most likely trigger to his vitiligo outbreak and the catalyst for his use of painkillers) and he never meets the Safechuck family. It's not too much of a stretch to say that if he signed with Coke he would still be alive today. As the Bob Dylan song goes... "a simple twist of fate". I know what you mean. I always think about how much different things would've been if on the day he met the Chandlers, his car broke down just a mere few minutes later. Dude could've been helped by someone completely different, he might not ever have been accused of those horrible crimes in the first place, his legacy might be totally better off and he might even still be alive today. A few minutes could've completely changed everything. Mind boggling.
I literally just said that to my wife about the flat tire the other day. I said "If anyone else on earth is involved, the rest of his life is different" |
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Post by Snow White on May 16, 2020 15:30:35 GMT
It wasn't Pepsi's fault, it was the director's fault or whoever told Michael to stay longer near the pyrotechnics. In the other takes he went down the stairs quicker. That stupid and reckless decision started to destroy his life.
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