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BRAND ACTIVATIONS
Pepsi uses basketball legend’s size-22 shoes for brand activation
By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024
Shoes have a secret compartment in the sole to ensure a soft drink mini-can is ‘always within a leg’s reach’.
Pepsi has teamed up with sports brand Reebok and legendary basketball star Shaquille O’Neal to create what the soft drink company is calling the ‘Sneak’er, a sports shoe modified to fit a Pepsi Mini Can into the sole.
Photo credit: Pepsi
The unique shoe is a one-of-a-kind item based on the original Reebok Pump Shaq Attaq range, which debuted in the 1992-1993 NBA season and was the first brand collaboration between O’Neal and Reebok.
What makes the ‘Sneak’er possible is that O’Neal wears a remarkable size 22, leaving enough space for a secret compartment housing the Pepsi Mini Can.
He showed off the creation during the recent 2024 NBA All Star Weekend, an annual weekend basketball festival held every February.
A can of Pepsi is always within reach
The concept behind the brand activation is that the shoes enable a can of Pepsi to be “always within a leg’s reach”.
To give the campaign additional impetus, a total of 22 consumers were afforded the opportunity to win a pair of the unique shoes. Given that most people are unlikely to wear a size 22, these will presumably become collectors’ items.
O’Neal also been involved in promoting Pepsi Mini Cans via a TV commercial.
“Nostalgia has been a major theme for Pepsi following the kick-off of a marketing blitz last [Northern Hemisphere autumn] to commemorate the brand’s 125th anniversary,” comments the industry website Marketing Dive.
The anniversary celebration has included reviving past campaigns, among them a commercial by Madonna.
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