Music

The Pepsi-Cola Curse: Will Nicki Minaj's Endorsement Break The Cycle?

by Aaron Zorgel

Yesterday, we finally got to see Pepsi’s Nicki Minaj commercial, a minute-and-a-half 3D clip for Pepsi’s “Live For Now” campaign. The ad re-tools Minaj’s hit “Moment 4 Life,” following a sugar-drunk couple as they explore their newfound ability to stop time with one sip of that sweet nectar. The pair jet-set through a time-frozen city, pass through an inexplicable tomato fight, and end up at a Nicki Minaj concert. They un-freeze time with another gulp of fizzy cola, and then manage to stage dive without spilling a drop of that precious syrup. Instructing consumers to “Live For Now” is a pretty appropriate campaign directive, since ingesting their high-fructose beverages on the regular means you certainly won’t be living for long.

Now, call me superstitious, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a smidge worried about Nicki Minaj’s big money cola endorsement. Sure, plenty of musicians have had successful relationships with Pepsi. Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and even Mariah Carey have appeared in commercial campaigns for Pepsi, with little detriment to their reputation, or Pepsi’s corporate image.

Ray Charles’ jingle, “You got the right one baby, Uhh-Huhh,” written by Prince, defined Pepsi’s marketing for much of the early 90s.

In Pepsi’s 2008 “Cool Tones” campaign, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and the All-American Rejects recorded ring tones that were made available by purchasing a Pepsi bottle.

These endorsements came and went without incident, but their relative success is not enough to overshadow the tumultuous nature of Pepsi’s spokesperson relationships historically. From on-set injuries to anti-Catholic accusations, many of Pepsi’s relationships with musicians have been destined for failure. More often than not, the Pepsi-Cola curse, as I like to call it, either results in either a negative impact on the company or on the endorser. The relationship can end up being abusive on both sides. Here are a few instances where Pepsi’s sponsorship hasn’t exactly worked out.

Michael Jackson

In 1984, Michael Jackson signed a contract with Pepsi that would produce many commercials, and many tours throughout the mid 80s through to the early 90s. He and his brothers successfully filmed an advertisement for Pepsi’s “New Generation” campaign, but it was during the filming of a second commercial when Michael Jackson was infamously set on fire due to malfunctioning pyrotechnics. Many people believe that this injury led to a prescription painkiller addiction, and MJ’s eventual unravelling. It won’t stop Pepsi or MJ’s estate from featuring his image on one billion Pepsi cans this year.

Britney Spears

In 2001, Britney Spears signed a rumoured $50 million deal with Pepsi during what some might argue was the commercial and creative peak of her career. The contract culminated with a commercial featuring both P!nk and Beyoncé, performing a cover of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” Things worked out ok for P!nk and Bey, but Britney Spears embarked on a downward spiral that included a split from Justin Timberlake, underperforming album releases, the K-Fed era, and a notable publicly bald-breakdown. Okay, let’s not get too superstitious yet — I’m not saying Pepsi had anything to do with Spears’ decline. But goddamn, things got crazy for Britney once the sponsorship ended.

Ludacris & The Osbournes

A 2002 Pepsi commercial featuring Atlanta rapper Ludacris was pulled from airing, after Bill O’Reilly called for a boycott of the soft-drink. O’Reilly characterized Ludacris as “immoral,” and a “rap thug” who used foul language and promoted the sale of drugs in his lyrics. Pepsi’s reasoning for pulling the ad was Ludacris’ foul language in his lyrics, even though the ad features no real lyrics whatsoever:

“Yuh, yuh. Wait a second, turn my mic up a little bit, man. Awww. Yea, yea, Pepsi! You know how we do!”

The feud resurfaced when Pepsi aired an advertisement featuring the Osbournes, public figures who are also known for their liberal use of foul language. Russel Simmonds, head of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network, attested that this endorsement was racially insensitive, based on the precedent set by pulling the Ludacris ad. This lead to the threat of a potential hip-hop boycott of Pepsi. Pepsi must have taken that seriously, since they agreed to make an annual donation of $1 million to the Ludacris Foundation, a charity that supports middle school and high school students in their creative endeavours. Ludacris says that Bill O’Reilly himself eventually donated to the Ludacris Foundation, squashing their pre-existing beef by cutting a cheque.

David Bowie & Tina Turner

Shortly after a 1987 campaign that saw Bowie & Turner team-up on a re-working of Bowie’s hit “Modern Love,” David Bowie was accused of sexual assault. The company, who had originally agreed to sponsor Bowie’s Glass Spider World Tour, immediately dropped the ads. To be fair, this era of Bowie’s career is probably attributed to coke moreso than Pepsi, IF YOU GET MY DRIFT.

Madonna

In 1989, as Pepsi made Madonna their new spokesperson in a $5 million deal, a commercial featuring “Like A Prayer” brought accusations of anti-catholicism to the cola company. Famously, unlike Michael Jackson, Madonna refused to insert “Pepsi,” or change any of her original lyrics for the commercial.

Kanye West

In 2005, Pepsi’s newest spokesperson Kanye West went on an infamous rant about George W. Bush, stating that after Hurricaine Katrina, George Bush “doesn’t care about black people.” Despite rumours that Kanye had been dropped as Pepsi’s spokesperson after the comment, Pepsi insisted that the relationship continued, though marketing involving the star was much less visible after the incident.

There are clearly more than a few botched relationships when it comes to Pepsi and its musical spokespersons. Whether its to the detriment of the pop star, or bringing negative attention to the brand, Pepsi’s endorsement deals seem notoriously doomed from the get-go.

So will Nicki Minaj’s “Live For Now” campaign survive the Pepsi-Cola curse?

So far so good — but it’s only been a couple of days. I guess it depends on how superstitious you are.