Dive Brief: 

• Pepsi today (May 15) unveiled its latest campaign, “Grilling Deserves Pepsi: BBQ Crashers,” per details shared with Marketing Dive. The campaign, timed to National Barbecue Day on May 16, insists that grilled food tastes better with Pepsi. 
• Key to the effort is a 60-second spot that follows a group of so-called Pepsi Crashers who show up to a cookout uninvited to swap out cans of Coke for Pepsi. The creative will air across TV, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok. 
• The effort also includes a Spanish-language version of the spot, “Carne Asada Merece Pepsi,” and a tie-up with Instacart for a promotional offer running from May 18-26. The campaign is the latest iteration of the PepsiCo brand’s Food Deserves Pepsi platform.

Dive Insight: 

Pepsi is infiltrating cookouts to assert itself as the ideal soft-drink pairing for grilled summer staples ranging from burgers and brats to ribs and corn. The brand’s latest effort expands its Food Deserves Pepsi platform that launched last year with a “Pepsi Chase Cars” campaign that featured Pepsi agents chasing down pizza delivery drivers to add Pepsi to their orders. 

Another effort, “Undercover Cups,” saw the Pepsi agents barge into locations of the three largest U.S. burger chains to take customers’ drinks and replace them with Pepsi. Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Burger King all have official partnerships with chief rival Coca-Cola. The agents, or Pepsi Crashers, are back again for the latest campaign, this time exchanging blue jumpsuits from past creative for undercover summer attire including Hawaiian shirts and sandals.

A 60-second spot follows the crashers as they prepare to attend a cookout and make good on their task: “Get inside, find the cooler, fill it with Pepsi.” However, chaos follows — when there’s no cooler, the group opts for a kiddie pool, and the awkwardness reaches a boiling point when one crasher asks Aunt Joanie about her late husband. In a more direct shot from Pepsi, one of the crashers throws a case of Coke into the bushes. 

The Pepsi Crashers’ mission will unfold throughout the summer with a series of national TV spots, and content will also span YouTube and social platforms including X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. A Spanish-language spot is meant to tap into the cultural connection between grilling and community and will span TV and digital channels.

Rounding out the campaign is a tie-up with Instacart for a promotion offering $7 off to consumers who spend $35 on Pepsi-Cola beverages and food items. Pepsi is also teaming with national retailers to offer consumers $3 off on purchases of four participating Pepsi-Cola beverages via participating retailer loyalty apps from May 9 to July 6.

Pepsi’s campaign comes following the recent news that Sprite surpassed it to become the No. 3 carbonated soft drink by volume in the U.S., according to Beverage Digest data. The Coca-Cola brand relaunched its “Obey Your Thirst” platform last year. Ahead of Sprite is Dr Pepper and Coca-Cola, per Beverage Digest’s data. 

PepsiCo in March named Mark Kirkham as CMO of U.S. beverages, a unit that houses brands including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Starry and Gatorade. Kirkham, who began April 7, replaced longtime marketer Greg Lyons, who joined Subway as CMO. The company saw net revenue decrease 1.8% year over year in Q1 2025 to $17.9 billion while its North American beverage unit saw volumes decline 3%.