Mr. Pibb, the spicy cherry soda launched in 1972, returned last year after being marketed as Pibb Xtra for more than two decades. Now, as the Coca-Cola brand rolls out nationally, a new campaign looks to confront misconceptions in a space dominated by competitor Dr. Pepper.
A new 30-second ad stars NBA legend Scottie Pippen for a documentary-style discussion of what it means to be considered second best. The Hall of Famer spent most of his career in the shadow of Michael Jordan, who many consider the best basketball player of all time.
“When something has been considered second best for so long, we just blindly accept it as gospel,” Pippen says in the video.
The ad maintains that false gospels have been reinforced by efforts spanning marketing, social media and multipart documentaries, a reference to the 2020 docuseries “The Last Dance” that focused on Jordan’s career. A talking can of Mr. Pibb says, “Pibb took that personally,” in a nod to a meme from the series.
“Our mission was to boldly confront the misperception that Mr. Pibb is second best, and we wanted to do it not gradually, but instantly and authoritatively,” said A.P. Chaney, head of creative for sparkling flavors at The Coca-Cola Company.
The campaign will debut during the March Madness broadcast on March 21 and spans online video, social and digital content. It was created by WPP Open X, led by Majority and amplified by Havas, Publicis and Zeno. The can of Mr. Pibb is voiced by podcaster and media personality Van Lathan who serves as the voice for “some intrusive thoughts.”
“We plan to lean into the can in future creative, it being this wing man and hype man for those that are slept on or those that might be perceived as second best,” Chaney said.
A challenger in the soda wars
Beyond the pun value of Mr. Pibb and Mr. Pippen, the campaign allows the brand to rely on everything one of sport’s greatest second fiddles has to offer, including the player’s dry sense of humor and quiet charisma.
“Basketball is the backdrop, while we reinforce the voice of being the slept on,” Chaney said. “His confidence is at the center of it, which directly aligns with Mr. Pibb. We’re just leaning into who Scottie is and how our brand aligns with his personality.”
The campaign comes on the heels of last year’s relaunch, which spanned a return to an old brand name, a refreshed brand look and a new formula with 30% more caffeine than Pibb Xtra. Along with expanding retail availability of Mr. Pibb and Mr. Pibb Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola also recently introducing two new regional flavors: Punchin’ Peach and Thrillin’ Vanilla.
Around the time of the relaunch, Coca-Cola found itself with new space in its fountains in select markets as a Texas court ruling ended a distribution deal between Keurig Dr Pepper and Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling. Mr. Pibb reenters a wider cola wars landscape that has seen Dr. Pepper surpass Pepsi in recent years while Coca-Cola’s Sprite recently took over the NBA’s soft drink sponsorship from PepsiCo’s Starry.
Coca-Cola has found that the brand is connecting with different consumer groups and across generations, from older consumers who are nostalgic for the brand and Gen Z consumers who are attracted to the increased caffeine that puts the soda more in line with other beverage trends around functional energy.
“We found that there was a great opportunity to really lean into the spice and cherry segment, so that's what led to our reinvention and reinvestment into Mr. Pibb,” Chaney said. “We have this challenger brand mindset and attitude. Some of our competitors feel a little bit more mainstream, and we're a little bit more bolder, brasher and anti-conformist, and so people really resonate with that.”
