Post #3- Pepsi Advertising

"More than OK" Pepsi ad in Super Bowl 2019

For many of us, the Super Bowl isn't about the football at all.  If you're like me, the Super Bowl is ONLY relevant for three reasons: judging the halftime show, the Puppy Bowl, and the commercials.  This year Pepsi resurfaced once again with a commercial based off celebrities.  They feature Cardi B (why?), Steve Carell, and Lil John.  The commercial begins with a common occurrence for all soda-drinkers.  The customer asks the waitress for a Coke but the restaurant only serves Pepsi.  This quickly introduces the first technique of a problem and solution.  The ad focuses on the consumer problem of Coke not being served in restaurants and gives the solution of Pepsi, which they believe is better anyway.  The use of celebrities was to try to get the audience to feel more attached to the ad because if they saw their favorite celebrity, which I hope is NOT Cardi B, they would be more tuned in and feel obligated to drink Pepsi because their idol suggests doing that.  This uses ethos through having a person one may believe as credible saying they prefer Pepsi in order to convince the audience it is truly best.  That is the reason a celebrity is not the customer but rather the one suggesting Pepsi.  

Steve Carell uses rhetorical questions to introduce pathos to the commercial.  He says "Are puppies okay?  Is a shooting star okay?  Is the laughter of a small child okay?"  This references the repeated phrase that Pepsi is "More than OK."  Since the Puppy Bowl is a vital aspect of the Super Bowl for me, this caught my attention because I have a soft spot for animals.  He also appeals to people by using a child's laughter, which most love, to emotionally attach them to Pepsi.  

Two of the celebrities featured have famous phrases that relate to the catchphrase of the ad, "More than OK."  Lil John yells "OK!" which is a reference to his famous song, "OK, yeah."  Cardi B also uses her phrase "okurr" when she makes her entrance.  Both of these celebrity references assist in the overall message that Pepsi is "More than OK" by once again trying to relate the audience to the commercial through the use of celebrities.  

I have an Oppositional Reading Perspective to this Pepsi ad because I think all sodas are just disgusting.  I think both Pepsi and Coke are not tasty and not to mention the calories and detrimental health affects just draw me far away from ever wanting to drink either of them.  The ad uses a hasty generalization that everyone will want to order Pepsi/Coke products when they eat at restaurants.  This is far from accurate because only 50% of adults drink soda, and many of those might not even drink Pepsi.  Therefore, I think this advertisement is incorrect in the way that it portrays the popularity of Pepsi.  The message encouraging Pepsi over Coke is just wrong and the creators suggesting the audience should consume an unhealthy, fattening drink is also ethically wrong.

Pepsi made it's appearance in the Super Bowl once again by using celebrity to catch the audience's attention, ethos to appeal to the credibility of the celebrities, pathos to emotionally connect them, and a generalization that everyone drinks Pepsi to convince the audience that Pepsi is better than Coke.