Brave Advertising

We all know Pepsi don't we?

You know - Pepsi the soft drink. Pepsi the only major competitor to Coca-Cola in the soft drink game. Pepsi that plasters their (sometimes tacky) image everywhere so that their presence is well-know throughout the world. Well Pepsi is about to change their game, 'forever'.

It was announced on Monday (28th Sept) that PepsiCo would cease all advertising for it's flagship product immediately and instead rely upon consumer opinion, demand and it's current standing in the market to advertise for itself. They want to focus on making soft drinks as opposed to playing the marketing game - stating that a company such as themselves should not be focusing on advertising but rather on making beverages because afterall that is what the company is all about. My thought is that this is an incredibly brave and just move - making an attempt to get back to basics and reinvigorate the company with enthusiasm and focus. Having said this there is the fact that this itself could be an advertising ploy and if not i think by this point there is enough existing market opinion(s) that make advertising for Pepsi (and Coca-Cola) unnecessary. Everyone know that these 2 companies are the big names in the industry and that they are really only in competition with each other and seemingly even within the borders of their own companies (Mount Franklin v. PUMP? They're both owned by Coke!). It will be interesting to see what Coke's opinion on this is.

A chosen quote from the CEO;

"Vying for the greatest market share shouldn't be a soft drink company's be-all and end-all,"

Damn straight it shouldn't be. Read the article after the jump.