Dive Brief:
- Dr Pepper is tapping into the trend of microdramas with a four-episode series on social media, titled “It’s a Pepper Fling.” The effort promotes the limited-time return of Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut, according to details shared with Marketing Dive over email.
- “It’s a Pepper Fling,” a play on the brand’s “It’s a Pepper Thing” tagline, casts a can of Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut as the star of a fleeting love affair and features a narrative emphasizing the flavor’s limited-time status. The first episode went live on May 15.
- Additional content drops will be shared on a weekly basis. The effort comes as parent Keurig Dr Pepper plans to increase its marketing spend, according to a recent earnings call. Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut is expected to help drive brand growth throughout the year.
Dive Insight:
Dr Pepper is channeling microdrama hype with “It’s a Pepper Fling,” a social-native series designed to promote the limited-time return of its Creamy Coconut flavor. Creamy Coconut was first launched in 2024 to tap into the “dirty soda” trend of combining soda with cream and flavored syrups.
The strategy behind “It’s a Pepper Fling” was inspired by social listening. Since January, the excitement for the flavor’s return has generated over 6.3 million social media impressions and nearly 5,000 social mentions, per data shared by the brand. Additionally, 97% of the online conversation urged for the flavor’s return or for Dr Pepper to make it a permanent staple. As brands seek ways to break through social media clutter, microdramas have become increasingly popular, with other brands like Marc Jacobs and Maybelline recently tapping into the trend.
“It’s a Pepper Fling” tells the story of a young woman and her love affair with Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut. The first episode follows the woman as she has a love-at-first-sight moment with the soda and takes a sip, which cues a series of romance-fueled fantasies. The woman is brought back to reality with the news that Creamy Coconut will only be available for a limited time, causing her to faint.
Additional episodes of the series will also employ cliff-hanger story elements. The series was created with Deutsch, produced by Omnicom Production and supported by KDPOne.
Short dramas have proven to be an increasingly popular category on social media. In 2025, consumers spent 5.78 billion more hours watching microdramas compared to the year before, per Sensor Tower data. Additionally, short drama app downloads increased by 1.66 billion year over year.
Keurig Dr Pepper increased its marketing spending in Q1 and plans to continue to do so for the full year. The company will focus on digital, personalized and precision marketing.
The return of Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut is expected to be a major contributor for growth of the Dr Pepper brand, executives discussed on a Q1 earnings call, noting ongoing consumer interest in the “dirty soda” trend. Keurig Dr Pepper reported Q1 revenue of $3.98 billion, a 9.38% increase over the year-ago period. Following its aquisition of Peet’s coffee for $18 billion, it plans to spin off its coffee busisness into a seperate entity.
