Pepsi wants Santa to skip the cookies and reach for a slice of pizza.
The soda company debuted "Holidays Deserve Pepsi" this week, a 15-second TV spot that takes on the tradition of leaving milk and cookies out for Santa.
In the ad, Santa finds fresh pizza and an ice-cold Pepsi Zero Sugar waiting for him, and he leaves a luxury blue sports car under the tree in return.
Pepsi is also backing the spot with 80% more holiday retail visibility than last year.
The push comes a month after PepsiCo's CEO vowed to fix the company's soda business.
On Oct. 8, CEO Ramon Laguarta told investors that the company is "not competing well in soft drinks."
He also said that PepsiCo is putting "all the urgency of the business" into fixing the category.
PepsiCo Beverages North America volume fell 2% in the quarter, per the company's Q3 2026 results.
The figure covers the whole unit, including Gatorade and Mountain Dew.
The beverage company is backing the spot with media across broadcast and streaming, social, audio, and out-of-home.
It also includes NBC's holiday tree Lighting programming, Christmas Eve college football, and Christmas Day NBA and NFL games.
Live holiday events reach people as they gather around food, when brand awareness has the best chance of making it onto a shopping list.
In stores, the extra visibility comes through holiday packaging, displays, inventory, and customer-specific programming all season.
PepsiCo is paying for screens and shelves at the same time, which shows how fast it wants soda shoppers back.
Brands planning a holiday push this size need a media buying agency that times game-day spots to the week that displays hit stores.
Santa Gets Backup From Vanilla & Cream and Football
Pepsi has used Santa in its creative endeavors before.
Its 2022 "Pilk and Cookies" campaign starred Lindsay Lohan and Santa, and a 2024 social push called #SantaSwitched showed Santa drinking Pepsi.
This year's spot keeps the character and changes the food, giving Pepsi a holiday story that consumers may be more than familiar with.
Pepsi Vanilla & Cream and Pepsi Zero Sugar Vanilla & Cream launched nationwide on Oct. 19 for a limited time.
Both flavors get their own creative, social content, paid media, and sampling.
Starting Nov. 19, Walmart.com will sell a limited-edition Pepsi Vanilla & Cream Holiday Bundle with baking essentials and exclusive Pepsi merch.
Football keeps Pepsi on screen between holidays.
"Tailgating Deserves Pepsi" runs across 15 NFL team partnerships, with retail tie-ins, new creative, and fan experiences at Pepsi pour stadiums.
Pepsi also launched a custom Walmart creative featuring NFL legend Jerome Bettis on Nov. 4.
"Yes, Chef Tailgates Presented by Pepsi" also hits Florida on Nov. 7 and Texas A&M on Nov. 14.
Football programming also brings 30% more point-of-sale presence than a year ago.
Pepsi connects every flavor, bundle, and tailgate back to food, which keeps its brand positioning consistent from September kickoff to Christmas Day.
Zero Sugar's Share Gap Sets the Bar for Santa
Beverage Digest data puts Pepsi Zero Sugar at 1.4% of US soda volume in the first nine months of 2025, against 4.6% for Coke Zero Sugar.
Its volume grew 18.1% in that period, compared with 4.8% for Coke Zero Sugar.
These numbers gives the spot a clear job of putting the fast-growing drink in front of holiday shoppers.
And Pepsi has seen what holiday creative can do.
Its 2023 Cannes Lions entry, "Pilk and Cookies," reports a 10-point jump in people linking Pepsi with the holidays.
The brand strategy only works if holiday buyers come back for another case in January.
Put the Growth Product in the Script
Brands should write their fastest-growing product into the story.
Pepsi Zero Sugar is the drink Santa finds, and it's gaining volume faster than Coke Zero Sugar.
Book Moments Where Food Is on the Table
Marketers should place spots in live events that gather people around meals.
Pepsi's plan includes Christmas Eve college football and Christmas Day NBA and NFL games.
Give the Ad Shelf Space
Brands should treat retail visibility as part of the creative plan.
Pepsi's 80% increase puts holiday packaging and displays in the same season as the spot.
PepsiCo's next earnings report will show whether the added holiday presence supports its soda business and the strategy behind it.
Our Take: Can Pizza Night Outlast Christmas Eve?
While Pilk asked people to mix a drink on one night of the year, pizza and a cold can ask for nothing except an order and a fridge.
It's a decision that almost comes naturally to some people, which is what makes Pepsi's 15 seconds of airtime creatively sound.
We like pizza night's chances of outlasting Christmas Eve, since Americans already order pizza every football Sunday without an ad telling them to.
Pepsi's weak spot is the restaurant counter, where KFC plans to move its 3,700 U.S. locations to Coca-Cola after 40 years with Pepsi.
The brand's next win has to come from pizza delivery menus, where a cold can gets added to the cart with one tap.
Explore these top beverage branding agencies to find partners that can develop distinctive holiday campaigns.
