Refresh Everthing

Ooo la la!
Hooray!
Yo.
Lovetc?
On my travels to Chicago this past week, it was hard not to notice the oversized super boards all over the city, advertising Pepsi’s new image of optimism and hope.
Every generation refreshes the world, and now it’s our turn, according to Pepsi’s new Refresh Everything campaign.
Soooeet.
Chicago was a big change compared to the tiny city of Winnipeg, and so were the advertisements. When even the taxis racing through the streets contain ads, it’s hard not to notice them. With gigantic letters practically screaming positive affirmations at you while trekking the Magnificent Mile, it was hard not to get those warm, happy, fuzzy feelings about the soda pop, and I’m a coke drinker.
One advertisement was painted across the entire length of a building! Impressive, Pepsi. Very impressive.
The ads are simple; white bold letters all containing positive words with the letter “o” replaced by the new and improved Pepsi logo. Brilliant. The ads are always on a vibrant background such as pink, orange or blue and are no more than a few words long.
But why hadn’t I seen these ads in Winnipeg? Was the campaign just for big cities? I couldn’t turn a corner in Chicago without seeing Pepsi’s new image. When even the raunchy TV show South Park parodied the Pepsi campaign, shouldn’t the whole world have heard of this campaign already?
As an advertising student, I feel I’m more in tune to what the media throws to the public and even I missed the campaign. Not to mention not a single one of my friends living in Winnipeg had heard of it. Perhaps the opportunities Chicago presented were just sexier than what Winnipeg had to offer. Besides, no one can touch all those Curve billboards in this city.
Oh boy.
Refresheverything.com shows that big celebs such as P. Diddy, Queen Latifa and Lady Gaga are even signing on with the new Pepsi campaign to help host “refreshing” seminars on hip hop, education and more.
Wow.
But what ties all these words together? I’m dying to know what “Lovetc” stands for, and I’m not sure that “Yo” and “Oh boy” are the most positive affirmations I’ve ever heard.
I realize America was desperate for some optimism, especially after suffering through all the terrorism threats over the past few years, but what is the science behind this campaign? There was obviously a crap-load of research put into Pepsi’s big launch; redesigning the logo was a big step and undoubtedly hard to do. But boy does that little white line separating the red and blue look good when it’s got a little curve in it. Tough call, I’m sure.
Jokes aside, I love what Pepsi has done. It’s what America and all Pepsi drinkers needed in this world! I just wish it was as widely spread in smaller cities as it is in the larger ones.