Summer time is Pepsi time

Whenever its Christmas and we see images of Santa Claus, we remember Coke. They have started using Santa as part of their promotions and commercials since 1930's. Coke helped us create the modern image of Santa Claus, the jolly and white bearded old man wearing a red suit. It has already become an identity and an association for the past decades.

However, Pepsi created an advertisement just this summer of 2011. A TV ad which directly targeted Coke. They used a direct comparison between them and Coke. They used Santa Claus as their subject. They emphasized on "Summer time is Pepsi time."

It's summer, Santa was enjoying and dancing on the beach. He was approaching the bartender to ask for soda. Without any word, the bartender gave him Coke which Santa refused because he wanted Pepsi instead. Of course the bartender was surprised because he is already known for partnering and dealing with Coke. But he said that it's summer and it's vacation time so it's just gotta be Pepsi.

Pepsi was trying to imply that Santa advertising Coke was just part of his work during Christmas. It's just like it only served as a front. His real choice was really Pepsi and not Coke.

After receiving Pepsi, Santa's elves uttered the lines, "naughty" and "nice". Naughty because he was not being loyal to Coke and he asked the bartender to keep quiet. Nice because he shifted to Pepsi, his real choice.

This ad will give a great impact to Coke. Since Coke only used Santa during Christmas season, Pepsi found its way to compete with Coke during summer. They used the strengths of Coke as their new idea and concept in developing an advertisement.