Les Miles is among the college football luminaries who have roles in the campaign.Deutsch
Dr Pepper put to rest enthusiastic soda slinger and self-proclaimed founder of the College Football Playoff, Larry Culpepper, after last season.
Now, with a new college football season about to kick off, the soft drink is back with an ad campaign in the make-believe town of “Fansville,” where melodramatic football fans from State and Tech live for Saturdays — and they don’t play soccer.
Dr Pepper, the CFP’s official soft drink and the second-biggest ad spender behind Geico during the 2017 college football regular season, according to iSpot.tv, will launch “Fansville” next week with six 30-second and two 60-second spots created by the soda’s longtime ad agency, Deutsch, the same agency that was behind Culpepper. One of the 60-second commercials won’t run until the CFP championship game on Jan. 7.
The theme resulted from scores of fan interviews at college football games last season when Dr Pepper first thought about retiring popular pitchman Culpepper, believing the campaign had run its course. The brand followed through on the change, even though Dr Pepper was named Sports Sponsor of the Year at SBJ’s Sports Business Awards in May.
The new campaign is heavy on humor performed by college football luminaries such as Brian Bosworth, Eddie George and Les Miles, each of whom had previous acting credits.
Ad agency Deutsch dreamed up the make-believe town where folks take their football very seriously.Deutsch
“When you think about it, college football is like a TV drama,” said Brett Craig, executive vice president and executive creative director at Deutsch. “It has highs and lows, it has a seasonlong story arc, it’s episodic — audiences tune in every Saturday — and it has this big culmination. It’s like a metaphor for the college football season.”
“Fansville” will come to life with an array of storylines, all treated like a TV series. Plots will range from State and Tech fans who fall in love, a State mother who gives birth to a baby in Tech colors, and a college football family whose teenage son begins to like soccer.
Derek Dabrowski, vice president of brand, content and digital marketing for Keurig Dr Pepper, who has worked 11 years on the Dr Pepper brand, helped oversee the shift to a new campaign.
'It's A Gateway Sport'
In one commercial for the new “Fansville” campaign, a mother and father confront their son over a discovery in his room.
Mother: We found this, under your mattress.
Son: Everyone was really into it this summer.
Father: It’s a gateway sport, you know. First, you’re watching soccer, the next thing you know, you’re gonna watch lacrosse.
Mother: Look, it’s perfectly natural to experiment with other sports at your age. I’ve even drank other sodas.
Son: There’s other sodas?!
The football/soccer spot stood out for him.
“We’re a soda, and we’re pretty self-aware of the role we serve,” Dabrowski said. “Our goal is to have fun with it, to be over-dramatic, over-the-top, and funny at the same time. … When you use comedy to break through, the best comedy comes from human truths. Hopefully fans feel like we’ve done that with ‘Fansville.’”
For Deutsch’s Craig, he likes the idea of tapping into the psyche of the college football fan. It’s part of Dr Pepper’s role as one of college football’s biggest sponsors to inject some themed creative into the season.
“It’s not enough to just show up as an advertiser,” Craig said. “You can be there and just be a sponsor of the game, but we want to be an insightful brand. I think fans appreciate brands that demonstrate a passion and understanding of the game.”
But doing that with humor can be a challenge. Deutsch is selective about how and when to use comedy.
“It depends on the brand,” Craig said. “A lighthearted approach has to be the right tone for the brand. … Humor is hard to do. You’ll have an idea on paper and when you see it on film, it’s not what you thought.”
That was never the case with “Fansville,” which was one of about 10 concepts that Deutsch took to Dr Pepper. The brand team liked it right away.
One spot features Eddie George delivering some not-so-great news to a State fan.Deutsch
“‘Fansville’ was funny on paper, funny in script, funny even when we were in casting sessions,” Craig said. “When it’s funny even when actors are just practicing lines, that’s a good sign.”
The TV spots, directed by Jonathan Krisel, will run in college football programming across ESPN, Fox and CBS. Media agency Initiative buys time for Dr Pepper.
The brand will have 15-second spots to run online, as well as custom content that will post on social media.
“Fansville” launches just as Dr Pepper celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its tuition giveaway program, which has contributed $10 million to pay for college educations.
