Pepsi’s Super Bowl ads feature animation, football stars

PepsiCo released Tuesday a new set of commercials in what’s shaping up to be an interesting matchup with rival Coca-Cola Co.

Pepsi confirmed Super Bowl ads for Pepsi Max, a no-calorie soft drink, and SoBe Lifewater, a line of enhanced waters. It said details would be coming soon on additional ads for this Sunday’s game.

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In a Super Bowl spot for Pepsi’s SoBe Lifewater, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis leads football players through a ballet routine.

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Pepsi, based in Purchase, N.Y., and Atlanta-based Coca-Cola both recently unveiled new marketing themes. Pepsi’s is tagged “Refresh Everything” while Coke is going with “Open Happiness.”

As part of the new campaign, Coca-Cola has Super Bowl commercials lined up that feature animated insects, digital alter egos and a football star pitching Coke Zero, a no-calorie soft-drink aimed largely at males.

Pepsi released Tuesday a set of commercials that provide their own dose of animated creatures, all-pro football players and a pitch for PepsiMax, a competitor to Coke Zero.

During the Super Bowl, Pepsi will have two spots for Pepsi Max. The ads show men responding with “I’m good” after painful incidents, such as getting hit with lumber, a bowling ball and golf club.

Pepsi also will run two Super Bowl spots for SoBe Lifewater, including one in 3-D. In a SoBe ad called “Lizard Lake,” Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis leads football players through a ballet routine. The ad also features the SoBe lizards and characters from DreamWorks’ “Monsters vs. Aliens.”

In addition, Pepsi has new ads for Pepsi-Cola but said it had not decided what will run during the Super Bowl. In one Pepsi ad, set to the song “My Generation,” a bottle of Pepsi passes through different eras, showing scenes of flappers, disco dancers and the Berlin Wall.

Pepsi also is working on an ad with Will.i.am performing Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young,” which could premiere during the game or later during the Grammy Awards broadcast.

Coca-Cola has provided details on three Super Bowl ads. It will run an ad for Coke Zero called “Mean Troy” that features Steelers safety Troy Polamalu in a twist on the classic “Mean” Joe Greene commercial.

For Coke Classic, it will run an ad called “Avatar” that shows people breaking through the clutter of the digital world to connect with a bottle of Coke and another called “Heist” that shows insects stealing a bottle of Coke.