Putting the pop in pop culture: Here are Pepsi’s most iconic music collaborations

Everyone remembers that one Michael Jackson ad from 2009- you know the one with the Pepsi inspired remix of his timeless hit “Billy Jean”, the miniature dancing MJs and the almost clairvoyant tagline “The Choice of a New Generation”? Or the one where Beyonce, Britney Spears and Pink cosplayed as gladiators and performed a cover of “We Will Rock You” in front of a screaming crowd and a perplexed emperor with a cooler of Pepsi by his side.

You probably also remember the controversial 1989 “Like A Prayer” ad starring Madonna, which finally aired 34 years later during the 2023 MTV VMAS in celebration of Pepsi’s 125th anniversary. We could go on and on, but we can only tell this story in so many words. So many iconic, unforgettable moments featuring some of the most prolific pop stars the world has ever seen-and one brand at the center of it all.

For over a century Pepsi has defined the culture through ingenious campaigns led by the biggest names in music, conveying distinct messages that have inspired generations. The Cola brand established itself as the patron beverage of Afrobeats even before the genre began to dominate the global mainstream, demonstrating a level of foresight that has kept it at the pinnacle of relevance within the Nigerian market for over a decade.

From taking over the notorious Detty December in Lagos with campaigns like No Chill Disembaa to shifting the culture through countless collaborations with Afrobeats heavyweights like Wizkid, Tiwa Savage and Burna Boy, Pepsi has been the engineer of several noteworthy pop culture moments. Here are some of our favourites.

Pepsi Long Throat Campaign With Wizkid and Tiwa Savage (2016)

Before “Big Big Tinz Ni Mo Like”, there was “Things I Long Throat For”. In 2016, Pepsi launched its new 60cl bottles with the award-winning Pepsi Long Throat campaign led by two of its most sought after ambassadors- Wizkid and Tiwa Savage. The campaign was marked by striking ads featuring long-throated caricatures of the superstars holding 60 cl Pepsi bottles portrayed to be bigger than their heads, a playful yet clever way of depicting the added value

being offered by the soft drink giant. It aimed to capture the insatiable nature of human desire while encouraging consumers to give into this urge and fuel their ambition to achieve the impossible.

Wizkid kicked things off on Twitter with a tweet alluding to “long-throating” for a studio session with Beyonce, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna all at once, spurring a widespread online movement labeled with the hashtag, #ThingsILongThroatFor. The hashtag generated over 800 million impressions, with several thousand consumers all tweeting their wildest dreams and ambitions. A number of Nigerian celebrities also joined the bandwagon. Amongst them was singer Seyi Shay, whose tweet about “long-throating” for an ambassadorship deal with Pepsi would earn her just that-demonstrating the potency of the campaign’s message in real time.

Naija All The Way (2018)

One of Pepsi’s most enviable superpowers is knowing how to run a seamless music and sports crossover campaign. The Naija All The Way World Cup Campaign is perhaps the most quintessential example of the brand’s ability to leverage the often symbiotic relationship between the two disciplines, bringing together some of the biggest names in Nigerian football and music and adding a splash of good old patriotism to the mix. The result was pure dynamite.

The viral ad featured appearances from Afrobeat megastars Davido, Tiwa Savage and Wizkid, as well as celebrity DJs Spinall, Cuppy and Obi. Football icons Jay Jay Okocha and Victor Moses made up the sports delegate, along with Nigerian national football team member Alex Iwobi. The message centered on the indomitable nature of the Nigerian spirit, as well as themes of national solidarity and pride. The campaign’s tagline became the unofficial slogan for Nigeria’s 2018 FIFA World Cup run, again cementing Pepsi as a cultural needle mover.

Refresh The Mix Campaign (2018)

In 2018, Pepsi made an unexpected move with the unveiling of four prominent Nigerian DJs as their new ambassadors with the Refresh The Mix Campaign. DJ Cuppy, DJ Spinall, DJ Exclusive and DJ Obi were all selected to be the faces of the campaign, which acknowledged and centered their roles as the chief tastemakers-and party starters-of the music industry. By selecting DJs-who are often relegated to the background despite playing a key part in shaping the culture-Pepsi exhibited a real commitment to championing the unsung heroes of Nigerian music. This pivotal campaign contributed to a much-needed shift in perspective, creating a ripple effect that can still be felt in the industry today.

The campaign was marked with the unforgettable “Lituation” party, which featured mind blowing sets from all four DJs, as well as performances from the likes of Tiwa Savage, Wizkid and Tekno.

Fizz To Life Campaign with Becky G and Burna Boy (2021)

The global Fizz to Life campaign, created in partnership with the UEFA Champions league, is a must have on this list. As part of the diverse campaign, Grammy-nominated singer Burna Boy and Latin American popstar Becky G collaborated on an original theme song titled “Rotate”, which also acted as the soundtrack of the “Fizz to Life” short film. The evocative short film featured appearances from some of the world’s most eminent football stars, including Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, Shanice Van de Sanden and Jadon Sancho.

In the wake of a global pandemic that left the world feeling more than a little lethargic, Pepsi’s “Fizz To Life” campaign re-energized the masses with a heady combination of music, sports and immersive digital media.

Big Big Tinz Remix With Young Jonn (2024)

Following in the footsteps of the 2018 Long Throat Campaign, Pepsi partnered with breakout star Young Jonn for the relaunch of the Pepsi 60cl bottle, releasing a remix of his 2024 hit single “Big Big Tinz”. The message of the current campaign is similar to that of its predecessor, exchanging the Long Throat tagline for “Big Refreshment, Big Value, Big Big Flex”. Visuals included a music video (in which Young Jonn totes a bag of Pepsi 60 cl bottles as he runs from a giant) and a digital flyer featuring an excited Young Jonn hugging a life-size Pepsi bottle.

In usual Pepsi style, the underlying message is relevant to the times, encouraging consumers to dream big regardless of the current economic climate. The Cola titan once again demonstrated an uncanny knack for keeping its finger on the pulse, identifying just the right artist to collaborate with and maximizing their joint slay.

Through its carefully curated music collaborations, Pepsi continues to exemplify what it means to be a brand that deeply understands and values not just its consumers, but the thriving music culture that soundtracks their lives from era to era.