Pepsi 'Unretires' NFL Legends In New Spot

To celebrate the upcoming National Football League (NFL) season, soft drinks company PepsiCo launched a new campaign that brings back some of the league's football legends to the pitch.

The 2023 Kickoff campaign "Unretirement" starts with a 60-second spot featuring retired NFL players Randy Moss, Dan Marino, Jerry Rice, and Emmitt Smith as they watch football, drink Pepsi, and eat Frito-Lay chips.

"Let's unretire," Marino suggests, which starts a fire in the hearts of the legends to relive their glory days. The four begin to don their old uniforms and enter the games to the surprise of fans tuning in.

However, things don't go quite as planned for the four veterans. Marino gets tackled in the field before Pepsico's newest athlete asks for a selfie.

Meanwhile, Randy Moss gets called a grandpa by the audience, Smith falls asleep on the pitch, and Rice asks a stadium vendor for a senior discount - all as they realize maybe retirement was the right choice for them.

Brett O'Brien, CMO at Frito-Lay North America, explained the idea behind "Unretired."

"With this campaign, we're taking that excitement one step further by playing into the trend of unretirement and bringing back players fans wouldn't expect to see on the field again," O'Brien shared.

Meanwhile, PepsiCo North America CMO Greg Lyons also chimed in, explaining that the company's brands are synonymous with the "gameday experience."

"Gameday is about enjoying friends, family, and football - getting lost in the excitement and those moments when the pop of a can or the first crunch of a chip is heard. So, for the kickoff of the 2023 season, we're amplifying that excitement even more by bringing together an iconic lineup of talent, snacks, and beverages that only PepsiCo can deliver," Lyons added.

Pepsi Steps Up NFL Marketing Efforts

Pepsi's marketing efforts and promotions have been part of its role as the league's official soft drink for over 20 years.

The league and the brand recently took their partnership to new heights by hailing the Pepsi Zero drink as the "Official Zero of the NFL" in a joint campaign.

As part of the campaign, the two companies and Philadelphia Eagles' D'Andre Swift gave away free No. 0 jerseys to celebrate this season being the first time players can sport the number zero on the field.

Edited by Nikola Djuric