PAINTING THE WORLD BLUE: PEPSI® LOVES AND LIVES FOOTBALL WITH GLOBAL 2018 CAMPAIGN

Iconic photography x localized artwork tells a personal story about the world’s best players, including longtime Pepsi ambassador Leo Messi.  

“Pepsi is known for bringing football’s most iconic heroes and hopefuls to the world in unexpected, entertaining ways, showing fans the never-seen-before sides of the players they love,” said Natalia Filippociants, Senior Marketing Director, Global Pepsi Trademark, Global Beverage Group, PepsiCo. “What tightly links the football experience across our iconic brand, the players and our collective fans around the world is a love for the game. This year, we’ll love and live the game like never before in all we do.”

The rich, 360-degree 2018 “LOVE IT. LIVE IT. FOOTBALL.” campaign connects art and sport to bring the beautiful game to life – on and off the pitch – with a unique, highly shareable and joy-evoking take on the sport and our world-class line-up of global footballers:

Collaboration is a new power that gives voice to people. Pepsi is proud to present a powerful story about collaboration of hero football players from around the World, the legendary photographer Danny Clinch and visual artists from their home countries. This vision came alive in the unexpected and entertaining global campaign:

“LOVE IT. LIVE IT. FOOTBALL” 

The Art of Football

From Messi’s unstoppable presence and reign over the pitch to Marcelo’s tenacious playstyle, each athlete has a unique attribute that Pepsi is bringing to life through a series of bold, black & white portraits captured by renowned lensman Danny Clinch. Clinch’s photographs – which capture the spirit, character and energy of each Pepsi teammate – act as the canvas for extremely personal artistic overlays created by visual artists from the athletes’ home countries. Diego Jimenez (aka DIYE) (Argentina), Bicicleta Sem Freio (Brazil), Dennis Schuster (aka DXTR) (Germany), Kim Sielbeck (US) and Iain Macarthur (UK) designed their own graphic interpretations of each player’s story.

The project, featuring international football stars  Lionel Messi, Marcelo, Toni Kroos, Carli Lloyd and Dele Alli, explores creative people coming together to fuse photography, visual art and sports, inspiring and empowering your audience.

• Messi x Danny Clinch x DIYE: DIYE created a visual metaphor, the Lion, to represent Messi on and off the pitch: an explosive playmaker and the undisputed king of the pitch who carries a great legacy.

• Marcelo x Danny Clinch x Bicicleta: Energy and impact in the artwork from this artistic duo is parallel to Marcelo’s heart and soul, with various story elements speaking to Marcelo’s interests, his hometown and resilient dedication to family and football.

• Kroos x Danny Clinch x DXTR: Playful illustrations portray Kroos as the “maestro” – a precise leader on the pitch orchestrating masterful play with incredible finesse.

• Lloyd x Danny Clinch x Kim Sielbeck: Lloyd’s duality on and off the pitch – aggressive and relentless, but a player with great humility – is illustrated by Sielbeck with a mixture of rigid and organic elements forming a wild landscape of complex emotions and depth, with the strongest of wills to succeed at the heart.

• Dele x Danny Clinch x Iain: With Dele’s high sense for fashion, shapes and patterns create movement with all things flowing to Dele, conveying his unpredictable, yet masterful and daring personality and play style.

 

Five-time Best Player of the Year and Four-time UEFA Champions League winner, Leo Messi commented:

 “It’s great to be involved in another action-packed Pepsi commercial. Pepsi always brings the entertainment factor to its football campaigns and this one is another great example.”

US award-winning playmaker and two-time Women’s Best Player of the Year, Carli Lloyd commented:

“It’s an honor to be part of the Pepsi team this year. Following in the iconic boots, so-to-speak, of so many players before me is a great feeling. I can’t wait for fans around the world to see the creative – I think it shows the world’s love and passion for football in a totally unexpected, and most importantly, fun way.”

Three-time UEFA Champions League winner and German midfielder, Toni Kroos commented:

“I can’t wait to see the amazing experiences Pepsi brings fans with the new LOVE IT. LIVE IT. FOOTBALL. campaign. 2018 is a big year for football and being a part of the new Pepsi team makes it even more special. I had a lot of fun filming on the set of the new television commercial! The fans always make everything fun.”

English rising star and two-time Young Player of the Year, Dele Alli commented:

“It’s really exciting to be in my first Pepsi football TV commercial. I remember watching so many of my idols in these iconic Pepsi ads growing up, so it’s amazing to now be starring in one.  It was great fun to film, even being covered in paint – I’ve definitely never played a game of football like that before.”

World-renowned Brazilian defender and back to back UEFA Champions League winner, Marcelo commented:

“The artwork is awesome – I love how Bicicleta has brought to life my personality and Brazilian culture that inspires me on and off the pitch. Seeing my face and the artwork on a Pepsi can was a proud moment, and I look forward to sharing more surprising content with fans across the world throughout the year.”