Poppi Hands Holiday Film to Day One Agency, Super Bowl to Mirimar

Poppi has a new Santa, and he keeps a naughty list.

The PepsiCo-owned soda brand has released a holiday social film starring Rob Rausch as Poppi Claus, created by Day One Agency.

Rausch, a longtime Poppi fan and brand partner, plays Santa surrounded by reindeer and a list of who has been nice and who has not.

The Love Island USA star is a familiar face for the brand, and the Santa role continues its use of celebrity endorsements.

"I never thought I’d trade my overalls for a Santa suit, but when poppi and I started talking about the idea, I thought, why not?" Rausch shared.

"It sounded like a lot of fun, and I figured Santa could probably use a little Cranberry Fizz in his life. We’ll see if I make the nice list after this."

The film lands months after Mirimar led Poppi’s Super Bowl LX ad in February, which starred Charli xcx and Rachel Sennott.

Day One, on the other hand, is a New York creative communications agency founded in 2014 that specializes in Gen Z and works with Amazon, Chipotle, Nike and e.l.f.

To the brands hiring agencies, a project-by-project roster lets each shop take the job it knows best.

Nice List Check Comes to Instagram

The film follows Rausch through a day at the North Pole, where he prepares for the holidays with reindeer, a nice list, and a naughty list close by.

Poppi pitches it as a behind-the-scenes look at Santa’s job, with Rausch’s looks part of the joke.

Starting Nov. 9, fans can follow the link in Poppi’s Instagram bio to find out whether they made the nice list.

They can also take a selfie with poppi Claus and post it to share some holiday cheer.

Mirimar has stayed active on Poppi work since the Super Bowl, too.

In April, it made a spot starring Jake Shane for the "Make It poppi" campaign, which shows Poppi has more than one agency working for it this year.

Cranberry Fizz, the returning seasonal flavor behind the campaign, is available for a limited time at retailers nationwide, including Amazon, Costco, Walmart, and Kroger.

Poppi suggests serving it chilled, mixing it into a cocktail or mocktail, or bringing a pack along as a host gift.

Prebiotic Soda Sales Climb 13% to $1.32B

Prebiotic soda sales reached about $1.32 billion in the 52 weeks ending Oct. 4, 2026.

This is up 13% from a year earlier, while unit sales grew 15.6%, according to Spate data reported by FoodNavigator.

PepsiCo also cut its estimate of potential Poppi earnout payments to $12 million as of Sept. 5, 2026, down from $278 million at the end of 2025, according to SEC filings cited by FoodNavigator.

Additionally, U.S. sales of prebiotic soft drinks climbed from $33 million in January 2022 to $777 million in January 2025, according to NielsenIQ data shared with Axios.

Category growth and a lower earnout estimate put weight on every Poppi creative job.

This leaves three takeaways for any brand splitting creative work across agencies.

Match the Shop to the Audience

Brands should give each job to the agency closest to its viewer.

Poppi gave its Super Bowl ad to Mirimar and its social film to Day One, which specializes in Gen Z.

Keep One Face Across Agencies

Marketing teams should carry a recognizable face through agency changes.

Rausch appeared in Poppi’s 2025 Super Bowl ad from Virtue Worldwide and now fronts Day One’s holiday film.

Tie Seasonal Film to Shelf Space

Brands should point holiday creative at a product shoppers can find today.

Poppi’s film features a limited-time flavor that is already in stores nationwide.

Its own seasonal flavor gave Day One a product to feature, while the limited run adds a deadline.