Pepsi is taking the Pepsi Challenge to advertising’s biggest stage with a 30-second ad that will run during Super Bowl LX, per details shared with Marketing Dive. The PepsiCo Content Studio and BBDO led the creative for the campaign.
The ad, first teased on Jan. 25, features a cola-loving polar bear whose world is shaken after he picks Pepsi Zero Sugar over Coke Zero in a version of the iconic taste test. The polar bear then visits his psychiatrist and explores a world full of Pepsi Zero Sugar drinkers. The ad, which arrives as Pepsi Zero Sugar is gaining market share, also includes a nod to the infamous Coldplay “kiss cam” moment that dominated pop culture last summer.
“What we're doing today is a big reset moment, a big idea that we're going to see throughout Super Bowl and throughout the rest of the year,” said Pepsi Vice President of Marketing Gustavo Reyna. “[Pepsi Zero Sugar] is driving growth for us now, ahead of the category — it's become one of our main growth drivers — and so we're doubling down on it.”
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 Pepsi Challenge first launched in 1975 and saw the brand ask consumers to compare the taste of Pepsi and Coke — without “the labels, the names, and the bias,” according to press materials. The brand has brought back the challenge over the years, most recently in 2025 with a nationwide taste-test tour.
The latest iteration of the challenge steps up the competitive nature of the play by centering a polar bear as the ad’s main character. While Coca-Cola first used images of polar bears in advertising in 1922, the animal became a prominent mascot for the brand in earnest in 1993. Pepsi sees using the polar bear in an ad as a playful way to highlight the data it has gathered around consumer preferences.
“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.
Big game, big growth
Pepsi Zero Sugar is no stranger to the Super Bowl. In 2023, Ben Stiller and Steve Martin appeared as fourth-wall-breaking spokesmen for the brand in ads directed by Jorma Taccone. Previously, the brand enlisted Missy Elliott and H.E.R. to reimagine The Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black” in an ad that focused on the colors of Pepsi Zero Sugar and Coke Zero cans.
The new campaign will span out-of-home, linear, social, creator content, podcasts and other channels, both before and after the Super Bowl. To amplify the campaign beyond the big game, Reyna said the brand will lean into “edutainment” content that seeks to educate and entertain consumers about the results of the Pepsi Challenge.
The campaign also includes a social giveaway on X during the Super Bowl, a complimentary Pepsi Challenge kit delivered by Gopuff and appearances by the polar bear across social media and in the Bay Area during Super Bowl week.
Pepsi Zero Sugar lags behind Coke Zero in sales. Pepsi Zero Sugar had 1.4% share compared to Coke Zero’s 4.6% share of the carbonated soft drink market during the first nine months of 2025, per Beverage Digest data shared with Marketing Dive. However, Pepsi Zero Sugar increased its volume by 18.1%, compared to Coke Zero’s 4.8% increase. In addition, Pepsi Zero Sugar saw 30.8% growth and reached more than one million new households, per data shared by the brand.
“We're bringing the challenge back for a number of reasons,” explained Reyna. “It’s a proven success that we've had in the past and in the present. It is a way for us to embrace our challenger DNA.”
