Brand Wars : How Pepsi is taking fight to Coca-Cola at Super Bowl
- Bhavya Sinha
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
I have always loved how Pepsi has challenged Coke. This advertisement is no different. Let’s have a look at PepsiCo’s latest Super Bowl Ad - the polar bear tasting challenge. This has been so far the best jab I have seen a company take over their competitor.
The ad starts with a CocaCola’s polar bear blind taste testing the two brands drinks and then choosing Pepsi Zero Sugar over Coke Zero. The guy is visibly shaken and is having a complete meltdown in the first half of 30-sec ad. This comes in as Pepsi is witnessing a rise in market share.
But the best part was not all this. The little nod to the Coldplay’s kiss cam? That was IT for me. That part i think wrapped it up for a ‘Super Bowl’ 60-sec cut. The ad was directed by filmmaker Taika Waititi, who also appears as the polar bear’s psychiatrist, and is soundtracked by Queen’s “I Want To Break Free.” The bear even as his own Instagram page where he has been officially declared team Pepsi (by Pepsi).
Now, why Polar Bear? The bear has been CocaCola’s mascot since 1993. Big enough to have their own merchandise and plushies too. This mascot is as savage in the events as Duolingo is on their social channels. CocaCola use their mascot to highlight the customer data they have acquired over the years.
Overall the campaign was hat I say (and love) the classic ‘brand wars’ we have seen and this is just another take on CocaCola by PepsiCo. is this a lure? It definitely is. I can’t wait to see if and how CocaCola will react to the ad. Using the polar bear, the mascot itself, is a very bold move on pepsi’s part i think. They have not just stopped to the advertisement. The bear is posting his side on Instagram and appearing on shows to prove his new-found loyalty. This is a complete use of social media in different forms to establish new market share, get into customer’s mind as the ‘chosen one’. Pepsi’s moto has always been in thinking and portraying ‘we are the best’ and this campaign might just force some Coke Zero fans to cross the bridge and move to the other side.
“We are here to prove that Pepsi is the best-tasting cola in the market, confirmed by 66% of Americans, and everyone, including the bear, has the right to choose better, to rethink their choice of cola, to reassess, to reappraise,” Reyna said, citing results from the 2025 Pepsi Challenge. (Source - Marketing Dive).
Coke Zero holds a higher market share at 4.6%, while Pepsi Zero Sugar has a 1.4% share, reflecting its position as a fast-growing challenger. Pepsi Zero Sugar's growth has been aggressive, boasting over 30% sales increases and 18.1% in volume growth in 2025.