Pepsi is bringing back its "wildly successful" Pepsi Challenge ad campaign, enlisting tennis player SERENA WILLIAMS and Jamaican sprinter USAIN BOLT to "recruit consumers to participate in a series of challenges meant for the social media generation," according to Ember & Steel of the N.Y. TIMES. The yearlong "promotion begins" Wednesday. Reviving the Pepsi Challenge, which debuted 40 years ago, "represents an effort by the brand to stand out by exploiting the mass recognition of a previously successful idea." The new ads come as Pepsi is "aiming to expand its global presence, particularly in emerging markets." Every month, Pepsi "ambassadors" will "use social media to issue a new challenge -- many of which blend social responsibility with popular culture -- that encourages consumers to 'do something different.'" All the challenges "will focus on social media in some way, and they could involve technology, music or sports." In addition to Williams and Bolt, Real Madrid's JAMES RODRÍGUEZ "will also present challenges, presumably of the athletic variety." Pepsi has "declined to reveal exact details of the challenges." The promotion involves "bringing a local perspective to the global campaign and creating individual and distinct campaigns region by region." Consumers in India, for example, will be challenged to "create their own Pepsi ads that could be shown during this year’s Indian Premier League cricket games, which are sponsored" by Pepsi (N.Y. TIMES, 3/11).
