Today, Pepsi unveiled its Super Bowl spot, which features singer-songwriter Janelle Monae dancing her way through decades of popular music and remaking the “Joy Of Pepsi” tune that millions have come to know and love over the years.
The clip starts back in the 60’s, as a jukebox lowers a record and The Contours’ classic hit “Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)” begins to play. Monae shimmies and shakes, and her vintage style fits in perfectly with the era. From there, she kicks through a door and suddenly becomes decidedly 80’s. Madonna’s “Express Yourself” is being blasted, and she and a crowd get down in their decade-appropriate garb.
The clip ends in the current day, with Monae walking into an all-blue party, where her own, updated version of the classic “Joy Of Pepsi” jingle is playing in the background as people dance along. She is, of course, drinking a Pepsi, but it’s from an old-fashioned bottle, which have been making a comeback lately. It appears that all things that were once old become cool and new again, and if a brand has been around as long as Pepsi, it can see its own products do the same.
Monae is the latest singer to put her spin on the classic commercial song, “Joy Of Pepsi”. Last year, newcomer and current Best New Artist Grammy nominee Tori Kelly had her own TV spot with the tune, and before that, Britney Spears did the same over a decade ago. The song has become more than just a jingle, and now the torch has officially been passed to Monae.
Since this is the fiftieth Super Bowl, the beverage brand wanted to look back at fifty years of the soda, and how it has had a place in pop culture, often being sold where the music is playing and where people are dancing. Pepsi has been the sponsor of the Halftime Show for some years now, so it would be odd not to see an ad from the company at some point during the game.
This is just the latest Super Bowl ad featuring a well-known musician to be premiered before the actual game this year. This week has seen at least one spot revealed per day, with both Drake and Lil Wayne starring in their own short clips, and there are likely more to come.
