Pepsi is taking the "kiss cam scandal" from last summer and giving it a furry, soda-fueled makeover for the Super Bowl. The new spot, released online ahead of the Feb. 8 game, opens with one of Coca-Cola's signature polar bears taking the classic Pepsi Challenge—and, to his dismay, choosing the rival cola. Shaken, the bear heads to therapy, where a bearded psychiatrist played by Taika Waititi helps him process the brand betrayal, TMZ reports.
Soon he's out wandering the city, meets a female polar bear who offers him a Pepsi, and the two end up at a concert. That's where the wink gets obvious: the bears appear on the arena's big screen as Queen's "I Want to Break Free" plays, snuggled up and drinking Pepsi, But instead of bolting out of frame, as Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and HR executive Kristin Cabot did in the viral clip from a Coldplay concert last year, the bears lean into their moment. Byron and Cabot later resigned. The polar bear's future is unclear but he probably doesn't have another Super Bowl gig: AdAge reports that while Coca-Cola has used polar bears in ads since 1922, they haven't been in Coke's Super Bowl ads since 2012 and the company hasn't aired any Super Bowl ads since 2020.
Waititi also directed the ad. The Oscar-winning filmmaker and actor from New Zealand has kept up advertising work throughout his career and directed three Super Bowl ads last year, Fast Company reports. Waititi, who directed two Thor movies, says commercials are a "nice big sandpit" that lets him try out new ideas and techniques that he might later use in movies. "Selfishly, I've used the world of making commercials as my filmmaking gym," he says.
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