Hasta La Motion!

Pepsico has launched “Pepsi Max Drone Football”, a commercial in which a group of footballers in Barcelona have their local pitch transformed into an interactive football arena. The first in a series of digital content under the ‘Genius’ campaign in 2015, the commercial was made possible with drones, advanced projection technology and over 30,000 programmable LED lights. Watch the players’ reactions as their Friday night five-a-side match is elevated to unimaginable heights.

Pepsi MAX transforms what appears to be a normal game of five-a-side football by using specially designed LED lights and illuminating the pitch to create an unexpected and elevated experience. In an extra ‘Genius’ twist, a drone officiates the game, at one point even giving a yellow card to a player for rough play. Directed by Scott Lyon, the short film was captured in real-time in Barcelona with local players from the neighborhood where the filming took place. Reactions of neighbours and bystanders was authentic and genuine as Pepsi MAX created a surprising and exciting night with LED lights, as well as drone and on-the-ground camera technologies capturing the inventive, epic game from multiple angles.

“Pepsi MAX is an important and growing brand in our Pepsi portfolio. It has become a brand known for not only delivering the unexpected combination of ‘maximum taste, no sugar’, but also for its highly engaging digital content,” said Kristin Patrick, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo Global Beverage Brands. “We believe that the most exciting experiences don’t just happen—they’re created. The ‘Genius’ campaign will show experiences that are elevated and made more exciting when something unexpected happens. In the case of ‘Drone Football,’ our first TV and digital ad under this new campaign, we’ve taken something that’s already exciting — a pickup game of football among friends—and elevated it by adding in surprising twists, like a drone that delivers a unique football, and light effects that at first surprise the footballers and then make their game even more exciting than it might have been.”

Credits

The Pepsi Max Drone Football campaign was developed at AMV BBDO, London, by creative director Thiago de Moraes, copywriter Milo Campbell, art director Sonny Adorjan, account team Clive Tanqueray, James Walker-Smith and Kristiana Grant, producers Christina Hermann, Ian Whittle, planner Emma Batho.

Media was handled at OMD by planner Tobie Rhodes.

Filming was shot by director Scott Lyon via Outsider with director of photography Tom Townend, producer Zeno Campbell-Salmon.

Post production was done at The Mill by executive producer Gemma Humphries, shoot supervisor Hitesh Patel, 2D lead artist Wes, 2D artists Sole Martin, Matthew (Wispy) Clarke, John Thornton, James Pratt, David Wishart, 3D artists Sam Driscoll, colourist Seamus O’Kane, and production assistant George Reid.

Editor was Art Jones at Work Post with assistant editor Hasani Franke.

Audio post production was done at 750mph. Music was produced at Meanred.