The Shaolin Kung Fu Pepsi Ads

I) Pepsi Advertising

Pepsi advertising has a long tradition, trace back to the early age of Advertising . It has caused
controversy worldwide , with mixed reception , party noted dues to the "Cola War" with Coca Cola .
Some noted trends of Pepsi advertising and Marketing's stragety :

+ Utilizing the service of young , up-and-coming,well-known celebrities :

David Beckham and many football stars

Britney Spear
Justin Timberlake
Polly Bergen

+Irony advertising to mock its main rival-Coca Cola

+Involved a variety of merchandise, while others involved specific products, such as Cash or MP3
+Sponsorship deals in international cricket teams.
+In the early 1940s , they progressed the "Niche Marketing" , they use racism as a selling point,
since Walter Mack realized that American-African is promising market

II ) The Shaolin Kung Fu Advertising :

a ) Basic Information :

'Kung Fu' is inspired by Shaolin philosophy - a branch of the Buddhist school - and shows a young
man's quest for perfection. All the stunts are real - the young boy is the youngest black belt in the
United States, the young man meanwhile is the world martial arts champion. Shot near Peking,
'Kung Fu' also used local villagers to act as monks. It airs globally apart from in the US.

Product/client: Pepsi
Agency: CLM BBDO
Creative Directors: Anne de Maupeou, Bernard Naville, Vincent Behaeghel
Art Director: Bernard Naville
Writer: Vincent Behaeghel
Agency Producer: Pierre Marcus
Production company: @radical.media

b) Thesis and Antithesis :

Shaolin is a branch of Buddhish school , they're quite a famous figures in Chinese history . They
teach Marital Art ( Kung Fu ) and Buddhist philosophy and theories . The Shaolin's system is based
of many different disciplines , notably the theory "Strength comes from Spirit" . They believe that the
spiritual strength is the base and resource for the development of the physical strength .

The TV Ads told the story of the young boy who came to Shaolin Temple when he was young and
trained there . At first , he couldn't manage to do any tasks , and everybody in the temple gave him
a cold , strangle look .he ended up disappointed the Head Monk and himself severely . Many years
passed , now a grown men , he had mastered Kung Fu , but there was one final test awaiting him .
Pepsi , with a very good sense of humor , has twisted the Shaolin theory in its favor . Across the story
, there's one repeated Symbol . On the door of the temple , on the forehead of all the monks in the
temple and on the flag where the Head Monk sits . The symbol itself is actually the top of the Pepsi
can printed . The young men realized that to pass the test , he must get the "Spirit" of the temple ,
which is the Pepsi itself . After smashed his head into the pepsi can , he now had the Shaolin Pepsi
Mark on his forehead , gained the approval of the Head Monk and the warm welcome of all the fel-
low monks into their circle .

Thesis :

Twisted ironically the Shaolin theory , Pepsi implies that it brings the spirit , it is the union symbol of
all facts( bring all the monks together and the young men must have the symbol on his forehead to
enter the circle) . It also gives you the spiritual strength and the physical strength ( When the young
boy first entered the Temple , he didn't drink Pepsi , this maybe the Pepsi's explanation for why he
couldn't manage to finish the task . But before the final test , he , along with many other monks , drink
the Pepsi to recharge the energy ) . Pepsi used the slogan "Ask for more" , which is its trademark
slogan for the 2002-2003 period .

Antithesis :

I rearrange the script and a few shots , adding a few storytelling elements and effects , with a brand
new Soundtrack and Sound Effect . The Antithesis remake told the story in the different perspec-
tive . The basic main storyline remained , but the boy got tired of people in Temple drank Pepsi all
the times . Before the final test , he realized that he had to smashed his head to get the symbol on
his forehead , and he obliged to do so . But the ending was different . There was consequence for
smashing his head into a hard object like that , his face was distorted . The young monk screamed in
pain , the final slogan was "No More" , instead of "Ask for More" , showed his disgust and tiredness
of the Pepsi after many years of enduring it. The Antithesis explored , in a ironic way , the negative
side of the Pepsi-abusing . Let aside its bad effect on our health in long term , too much gas drink ,
especially Pepsi can cause us to lose our taste in food and other drinks , it made people fed up with
their appetite, with your stomach full of gas , you wouldn't feel like eating anything else and losing
an important part of life .