Pepsi’s “Undercover Cups” campaign delivers a jab at Coca-Cola with fountain drink pranks
Pepsi is turning up the heat in its ongoing rivalry with Coca-Cola through a cheeky “Undercover Cups” stunt. The campaign has Pepsi agents infiltrating McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s—three fast-food giants that serve Coke products—and swapping out customers’ sodas with Pepsi. While punking fast-food lovers, Pepsi is doubling down on its statement, bringing back that bold, in-your-face marketing that’s all about making a statement. This stunt serves as a fun reminder of Pepsi’s role as the underdog—ready to steal the spotlight from Coke at every turn.
Takeaways
In an era where brands are fighting for relevance in an oversaturated market, Pepsi’s campaign uses a unique approach to stand out. “Undercover Cups” plays into humor to grab the attention of soda drinkers everywhere and is a great example of a bold style of marketing. Its playful jabs at the competitor are the type of content that sparks conversation and cuts through the clutter. The prank-style and fast clips tap into the fast-paced nature of social media, drawing in younger, more digitally savvy consumers who appreciate messaging that doesn’t take itself too seriously. While I personally am more of a Coca-Cola fan, I have to admit Pepsi nailed it here by leveraging its rivalry with an engaging narrative, showing that sometimes leaning into competition and embracing a bit of cheekiness can be a great marketing tactic.
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Pop-Tarts brings back edible mascot for bowl game spotlight
In an era where grabbing attention is harder than ever, Pop-Tarts pulled off one of the most memorable stunts in recent marketing history during last year’s Pop-Tart Bowl. As Kansas State faced off against NC State, the brand introduced a lovable mascot that captured hearts—only to toast and eat it live on national television. The unexpected twist sparked immediate buzz online, drawing attention from both diehard sports fans and casual viewers.
Now, Pop-Tarts is doubling down on the audacious idea. The brand has announced the return of another edible mascot for this year’s bowl game, promising to deliver yet another unforgettable marketing moment.
Takeaways
Pop-Tarts’ edible mascot worked because it was bold, unexpected, and perfectly tailored to a wide audience. While Pop-Tarts are traditionally seen as a kids’ product, this activation reached sports fans of all ages and created a viral moment online, extending its reach beyond the live broadcast. The mascot gave people something to root for, building an emotional connection and lasting brand affinity in a way most campaigns can only dream of achieving. Ultimately, it made the brand bigger than the game and proved that taking risks can deliver incredible rewards.
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X users flee the platform for competitor Bluesky following US presidential election
In the wake of this year’s presidential election, some users of X, formerly Twitter, are jumping ship to competitor platforms. Notable among those in recent days is Bluesky, a short-post social media platform launched by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey in 2019. Bluesky now has 21 million users and counting; in the days immediately following the election, it was reportedly adding more than a million new accounts per day.
The recent exodus of X users continues a trend that began back in 2022 when Elon Musk acquired Twitter. Under new management, X began making changes to the platform’s features, algorithm and terms of service, driving some users to competitors like Bluesky, Meta’s Threads, or Mastodon, an open-source alternative.
These competitor platforms seek to differentiate themselves, both from X and from one another, in their form and function. Bluesky seeks to distinguish itself through customizability: rather than one “master algorithm,” the platform allows users to select from among 50,000 different algorithmic feeds, or even to develop their own. Threads, meanwhile, boasts a powerful network effect, with its hundreds of millions of users largely ported over from Instagram, also owned by Meta. And Mastodon casts itself as an open, distributed alternative.
Bluesky is not the largest Twitter competitor, but its rapid user acquisition in recent days reignites a conversation about the future of short-form social media.
Takeaways
The emergence of multiple Twitter competitors has meaningful implications for marketers, communicators and researchers.
The departure of advertisers from X leaves a vacuum in the ad space, but none of these three Twitter competitors has a functional ad product at present. Given its open nature, Mastodon will never serve ads. Bluesky claims the same: company officials say the platform has no plans to ever rely on ads, raising serious questions about whether and how it will ever make money. That leaves Threads, which reportedly will see ads as soon as next year. At present, we have more questions than answers: what will that ad offering look like? Who are the audiences using Threads?
Perhaps more important for communicators is the question of where this type of real-time online conversation will take place going forward. Twitter, for better or worse, served as a “town square” for breaking news and information. As users spread across multiple platforms, organizations will need to determine where their audiences have chosen to reassemble, and they potentially will need to establish a presence in multiple places to maximize reach.
In a similar vein, this fragmented landscape makes social media listening more difficult for researchers and crisis communicators. As Twitter’s user base shrinks and changes, its usefulness as a tool to measure public opinion diminishes. It remains to be seen whether platforms like Bluesky or Threads will make their data available at scale to social media listening providers. But as the social media landscape continues to evolve, adaptability will be key—for platforms, users, and organizations striving to engage them effectively.
bluesky’s user count grew by another million today
welcome to all 19M of you 🥳https://t.co/x6v5YW0WFT pic.twitter.com/FtCvcyyr20
— bluesky (@bluesky) November 18, 2024
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