Highlights
- Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking Pepsi deal in the 80s broke down racial barriers and paved the way for Beyoncé’s $50 million sponsorship with the company.
- Pepsi’s decision to remaster Madonna and Britney Spears’ famous commercials for their 125th anniversary shows the lasting impact of these iconic ads.
- Beyoncé had full creative control over her Pepsi sponsorship, highlighting the shift in celebrities demanding more than just creative approval but also creative control in endorsement deals.
At this point, celebrity endorsements of products seem to be commonplace. If a company wants to sell their product, it only makes sense to get a major star to be the face of it. It adds a legitimacy to the company in the eyes of the public.
However, there were still major barriers that needed to be broken down. In the early 80s, Michael Jackson helped break down racial barriers with his Pepsi sponsorship. This also paved the way for Pepsi commercials to be treated as events, a trend that continued with Madonna and Britney Spears.
When Beyoncé got her own Pepsi deal in 2013, she was in full creative control over the project. The deal was worth an impressive $50 million and was the result of those who paved the way before her.
Michael Jackson’s Pepsi Deal Broke Down Racial Barriers That Paved The Way For Beyoncé
The reason Beyoncé was able to score a huge sponsorship deal with Pepsi was thanks to Michael Jackson. In 1983, the King of Pop was riding high on the success of his album “Thriller.”
A year after the groundbreaking album was released, the Jackson brothers made a deal with PepsiCo for a $5 million partnership. The deal sponsored the Jacksons’ 1984 “Victory Tour.” This was a deal that would shatter records when it came to celebrity endorsement deals, mainly due to Jackson’s star power.
However, Jay Coleman, founder/CEO of Entertainment Marketing & Communications International, once told Billboard that Pepsi wasn’t the company they initially approached. Surprisingly, the deal was originally supposed to be with Coca-Cola.
“They gave it serious consideration yet couldn’t make that leap of faith,” Coleman said. “They saw anything they would do with Michael as a more targeted, ethnic campaign.”
Coca-Cola made the Jacksons an offer of $1 million, which they rejected. Then-CEO of PepsiCo, Roger Enrico, was looking for a perfect way to launch the “New Generation” campaign to a youth audience. The Jacksons seemed to be the perfect artists to launch the campaign and the brothers moved ahead with the deal.
“The goal was to make Pepsi look young and Coke look old, and Michael Jackson was in fact the choice of that generation—he was already the King of Pop, even though he hadn’t declared it,” Coleman explained.
Pepsi Brought Back Madonna And Britney Spears’ Famous Commercials To Celebrate Their 125th Anniversary
In 2023, Pepsi was celebrating its 125th anniversary and decided to remaster their star-studded commercials from the past. Among these newly-uploaded spots were Madonna’s 1989 commercial and Britney Spears’ 2001 commercial.
The Queen of Pop’s commercial aired during an episode of The Cosby Show in early 1989. After the commercial aired, the video for “Like a Prayer” premiered on MTV. The video featured Madonna dancing in front of burning crosses, kissing a Black saint, and bleeding stigmata. This offended religious groups, who targeted Pepsi and threatened a boycott if the company didn’t pull their ads with Madonna.
The company gave in and pulled the spots. However, it was Madonna who won in the end, because the music video remained on MTV. She also scored a huge hit with the song and got to keep the $5 million Pepsi paid her.
Spears’ 2001 commercial aired in full during an episode of TRL and the Princess of Pop recently shared her feelings about the spot coming back all these years later.
“It’s exciting to see Pepsi celebrating our ‘Joy Of Cola’ spot as part of the 125th anniversary celebrations,” Spears told People. “This was such an iconic music video-styled spot that we shot 20 years ago, and [it] still resonates so much with fans.”
The commercial was set to air during the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, with Spears adding, “[I’m] excited to watch the spot re-air during the VMAs next week!”
In 2013, Beyoncé scored her own sponsorship deal with Pepsi worth an impressive $50 million. The commercial was by ad agency 180 LA and featured Beyoncé in a dance studio looking at past versions of herself in the mirror. She was also dancing to her song “Grown Woman” in the commercial, only fueling anticipation for her new then-unreleased music.
Beyoncé’s sponsorship deal with Pepsi came at a time when artists were becoming increasingly more involved in the creative decisions that went into such endorsements. This included LeBron James, Justin Timberlake, and Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z.
Patricia Martin, author of “Renaissance Generation: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer and What it Means to Your Business,” spoke with USA Today at the time about what this meant for the industry.
“We’re entering the age of the celebrity industrial complex,” Martin said. “It’s no longer about taking a fee, but about two brands coming together so they both move product.”
Martin said this kind of control began with Jackson’s first mega-deal back in the 1980s. However, she said that social media made celebrities’ power even stronger when it came to advertising.
Noreen Jenney Laffey, president of Celebrity Endorsement Network, also shared her perspective with USA Today. She explained the difference between a star’s involvement then versus now.
“Celebrities don’t just want creative approval anymore,” she said. “They want creative control.”
The outlet estimated that the song “Grown Woman” would be heard by more than one billion people by the time the campaign ended. There were also going to be special cans with Beyoncé’s image handed out at Pepsi-sponsored events, although not sold in stores. It was said that Beyoncé would have a hand in designing these cans. Beyoncé was also set to be part of establishing the Pepsi Creative Development Fund, dedicated to co-creating content for consumers.
At the time, Brad Jakeman, president of PepsiCo’s Global Beverages Group, said, “She is at the epicenter of pop culture. We couldn’t have asked for a better creative partner.”
Source: NewsFinale
