Pepsi and sports are inexorably linked. While it might be thought of as the official drink of the NFL, or for some of the most memorable Super Bowl halftime shows of all-time, the company’s ads have also been king when it came to athlete endorsements — especially in the ‘90s.
A huge marketing push for Pepsi in the early 90s was differentiating it from Coca-Cola, which was largely seen as “your parents’ cola.” This meant getting the biggest athletes in the world to make Pepsi cool for a younger generation, and we got some absolute nostalgic gems because of it. Now Pepsi marks its 125th anniversary, and it’s the perfect time to remember some of the best, weirdest, and most hilarious Pepsi ads in sports history.
Shaquille O’Neal on the playground, 1995
Kids these days don’t even understand how cool Shaq was in the mid-90s. If you never experienced Shaq’s time with the Magic, it’s impossible to understand what it was like to see a man of his size move with the athleticism of a small forward and display such ludicrous strength. It’s like Zion Williamson, if he never got hurt, and there was nobody like him before.
As cheesy as it looks now, Shaq saying “ball” and it flying to his hand like he’s Magneto was just about the most awesome thing on TV.
Skydiving baseball, 2006
I’m not going to try and understand the physics of playing baseball while skydiving (other than understanding it would never work), but this was such an iconic ad featuring Manny Ramirez at the peak of his fame with the Red Sox.
Uncle Drew, 2012
It’s impossible to make a list of the most iconic sports ads without discussing one that spun off its own dang movie as a result. Kyrie Irving pretending to be Uncle Drew in a pickup game was one of the most unique, creative and well done ads of all time.
MLB’s Forever Young, 2009
This is so simple, and yet so effective. Nobody did nostalgia in baseball better than Pepsi in 2009, which really made you feel the history of MLB by juxtaposing the biggest stars of the time next to archival footage.
The shootout: David Beckham and Iker Castillas in 2003
It wasn’t just U.S. stars that got massive Pepsi ads. Despite being on the tail-end of his Manchester United run, David Beckham was still the biggest player on the planet in 2003. This commercial is just amazing, with United’s players looking like wild west outlaws, while Real Madrid were almost like a cross between a gang and preachers.
Little did we all know that less than six months after this commercial aired Beckham would join Castillas in Real Madrid for his four year run with the club.
Shaq goes Hollywood, 1997
This commercial came shortly after Shaq made his move from the Magic to the Lakers, joining Kobe Bryant in what became one of the greatest 1-2 punches in NBA history. Pepsi was there to usher in Shaq’s arrival to L.A. with a commercial that ended with 5’4 Michael J. Fox grabbing Shaq by the collar for the audacity of messing with his Pepsi.
Field of Dreams, 2011
There’s been no shortage of Field of Dreams references in baseball, but this ad for Pepsi Max in 2011 was one of the best. Not only did Evan Longoria nail his part in this, but Rollie Fingers really stole the show by gifting his incredible mustache to a delivery driver.
Montana and Marino, 1986
Commercials in the 80s just hit different. It was less about having athletes do anything amazing, and more that it was incredible just to see the world’s biggest sports stars in an ad. This meeting of Joe Montana and Dan Marino sharing a Diet Pepsi in 1986 is a perfect time capsule of advertising.
David Beckham vs. the young Juventus fan, 2001
A perfect spoof of one of the most iconic sports ads ever, Pepsi did their own take on the 1979 ‘Mean’ Joe Greene ad by Coca-Cola, this time with Beckham in the tunnel meeting a young fan.
It’s incredible that such a uniquely American ad was recontextualized for soccer in Europe this way, but it totally worked even if you didn’t get the underlying joke. The look on Beckham’s face when the kid uses his jersey to wipe off his can germs is just perfection.
Pepsi Big Slam, 1994
You best believe we have another Shaq ad on this list. This one is so goofy and corny, but absolutely perfect. The idea of a 33 oz personal-sized soda is hilariously ludicrous, and Shaq was the perfect person to pull this off.
Pepsi’s 10 most iconic sports commercials, featuring Shaq, David Beckham, and Manny Ramirez
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