• Client: Pepsi
• Agency: Dieste Harmel & Partners, Dallas
• Principals: For Pepsi: Tyler Ricks, director of multicultural marketing, and Lara Montilla, manager of multicultural marketing. For Dieste Harmel & Partners: Jaime Gonzalez Mir, account director, and Aldo Quevedo, creative director.
• Media buy: English version on Fox MLB games; Spanish version during all day parts on Univision and Telemundo
• Summary: An ebullient fan recognizes Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa at a Mexican food stand and asks the proprietor to set Sosa up with a “special taco.” Said taco turns out to be muy caliente, or incendiary, in nature. Sosa seeks relief for his scorched palate, which naturally comes in the form of a Pepsi. With the fire extinguished, Sosa turns his attention to the perpetrator, who tips his cap, which turns out to be a hat of the rival Chicago White Sox.
• Grades:
B+ for creative: Good casting, but we’re curious why the food stand is deserted, except for the main characters. Wouldn’t some reaction from bemused onlookers have been entertaining?
A for use of sports as a marketing vehicle: Good exploitation of the rivalry, and we like humanizing Sosa by placing him in a situation everyone can identify with.
Sports Sports is a monthly feature of SportsBusiness Journal. Please forward VHS tapes of recent TV ads for sports brands or brands using sports as a marketing platform to Terry Lefton, SportsBusiness Journal, 750 Third Ave., Third Floor, New York, NY 10017.
