Pepsi and Other Advertisers Back New Content to Lure Binge-Watchers
Brian Steinberg, provided by
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Television commercials have long been one of the media industry’s surest bets so much so that advertisers around the world dumped a whopping $149 billion on them in 2020, according to estimates from Magna, the large media-buying firm. But Pepsi recently decided to take a gamble on something else.
On Valentine’s Day, the soda giant unveiled a three-story replica of a Las Vegas jackpot machine, the centerpiece of a new game show it’s running with the Fox broadcast network. “Cherries Wild” features Jason Biggs as host, lots of trivia and a Pepsi Wild Moment that lets people at home play along for prizes. The whole show is done in Pepsi colors, says Todd Kaplan, vice president of marketing, and aims to play up Pepsi Wild Cherry, a line extension the company believes has room to grow. No other soda will be allowed to advertise during the show.