Pepsi Next Gets Comedians to Impersonate You Based on Your Facebook Profile
By Todd Wasserman on MashablePepsi is taking Facebook-based narcissism to a new level with a campaign that gets comics to impersonate you based on your profile on the social network.
The beverage giant has linked with longtime partner Funny Or Die for a program that will choose consumers for an online taste test for Pepsi Next. Since users can’t actually taste the cola online, Pepsi has opted for the next-best thing: comedians attempting to simulate you will try the drink.
Such fans will opt in to be chosen. “We’ll analyze their Facebook persona,” says Shiv Singh, head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages. “It will be very close to who they actually are. We have improv comedians on standby.” The shoot will take place in Los Angeles over five days, using four simultaneous sound stages and 12 Funny or Die improv comedians. The fan videos will then be edited and posted back to selected users in approximately 24 hours of the shoot.
To give a taste of how the program will work, Pepsi, Funny Or Die and ad agency partner The Barbarian Group have created three videos. The video above is an explanation of the program by comedian Rob Riggle. The two below goof on Gary Vaynerchuk, the YouTube-based wine expert and Internet meme Scumbag Steve.
Pepsi Next, a mid-calorie soda with 60% less sugar than Pepsi’s flagship beverage, is being released this spring with distribution in Walmart and national sampling. The Facebook program combines the thinking behind programs like Intel’s “What About Me?” app and Old Spice’s 2010 “Responses” campaign to create what the brand hopes will be a viral phenomenon.
What do you think? Will you try the program? Will it get you to try Pepsi’s new soda? Sound off in the comments.
