New Pepsi spot is full of optimism. No, it is! :-)

I sure hope they offer the song Energy by The Apples In Stereo as an iTunes download during one of their Super Bowl commercials this year. That would be amazing, and something hardly ever done, like, ever. It’s so cool how they took a study on optimism and used it as the basis for their strategy—I’ve never seen that done before. Ever. Especially the part where they forget to mention the same shiny happy people are also more anxious and concerned about their future as compared to boomers. That doesn’t matter though because optimism and a plumber’s crack smiley logo conquers all. (It does you know!) Forget introducing the logo during the recent election night coverage when the eyes of the world would be on the U.S. all day when people would’ve connected even more with the moment that night. Forget too missing a chance to have the ball in Times Square colored to look like the new logo while how many countless other brands got their name out that night. I mean the way they’re trying to be all happy without using actual people to teach the world to sing like Coke is also amazing! I feel like singing, because you know, the world is going to be alright.

Had enough? Okay, okay, already, we get it. Chill on all the snarcasm.

Here’s the thing, I’m actually a very optimistic person. Reading this blog, it’s easy though to mistake being me a wise-ass and passionate for someone who’s a pessimist. Not the same things at all. It’s just that when I see and hear so much of the rational behind the new/next/whatever generation of Pepsi work, be it about optimisim or youth and trying to be different, it doesn’t fit with life.

They updated the packaging and logo to make it sufficiently generic so as to appeal to a global audience. (You the people voted!) They did it by using the universal human emotion of smiling as graphic symbol and metaphor. I’d still argue the point that while smiles are universal, countries and cultures are different, so why make the logo and packaging so generic. (Still others I asked had ideas about this too.)

Even more, the brand up to this point has taken the same approach to advertising it always has: Typical feel-good TV spot purchased during the Super Bowl, one of the most-watched events in the U.S. Market, and also blocked its main competitor Coke for part of the coverage. Not a very friendly move for such an optimistic generation, eh Pepsi?) Is running spots on the Super Bowl a bad business move, to get in front of as many eyes as possible? Not necessarily. Depends on the brand but for the most part, you do reach people.

But it sure looks like the same old school push advertising model, especially when you rehash your competitor’s messaging from four decades ago. (“I’d like to teach the world to sing...” or “Have a Coke and a smile....” C’mon, really. Did it really take a new agency to figure that shit out?)

Soooo, tell me again, how is this approach anything new for this next generation of optimistic consumers? (Consider too with this strategy, what brand depended more on Obama winning than Pepsi? He loses and they’re screwed because that logo then reminds everyone of Hope lost and what might have been.)

I’ve written before about a few steps the brand could try to gain new users, (specifically the fast food/fast casual segment), as well as the two TV events above that they missed a once in a lifetime chance at introducing this logo at. It’s practically a case study in brand fail:

1) Your logo has been compared to Obama’s for months.

2) You could’ve had people vote on it all along and treated Election Day as your brand’s Super Bowl.

3) Obama went after your same youth demo like nobody else before—and won it like nobody before.

4) People were genuinely moved to tears watching him give his acceptance speech, riding an emotional high not seen since the last episode of Friends.

And where was your brand? Exactly. Nowhere to be found, suffering from ED, (electoral dysfunction).

Then there’s New Year’s Eve. The actual ball in Times Square could have been the new logo, instead, you only use New Year’s Day as the start of this ‘new’ optimism. Weak. (Actually, the new optimism starts January 20th when Obama’s sworn in.) I thought the Jets’ collapse was bad. Oh well, Pepsi’s loss.

I also mentioned once that this brand is about taste and loyalty, (like any brand really). As such, it can be with you during good times and bad. Somehow though, clients get stuck on the good. I say that because I’m going through not so happy happy joy joy times now and I’m depending on the Fine Family of Pepsi Products™ to guide me. (Some people prefer Jameson’s—me, I’m a Pepsi man.) Point being, Coke has been able to connect with the lives of its customers because their messaging rings more true with a person’s life.

(A brand doesn’t always have to throw out shiny happy icons when people might actually prefer a more honest approach. While I don’t drink Coke, it’s hard not to see that they come off as more genuine, and certainly more a part of our culture than Pepsi. The brands that connect with customers in a more genuine way will win hearts and minds.)

But hey, those song downloads sure do rock.