Can Pepsi's Uncle Drew Face the Music?

On May 18th, Pepsi MAX posted a video on YouTube titled, "Uncle Drew."  Being that sports are a major cornerstone of their branding, they set out to have a little fun. 

The five-minute video from Davie Brown Entertainment features NBA Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving disguised as a sweatshirt-wearing, pot-belly-sporting elderly man named "Uncle Drew" (a guy who basically reminded me of Grady from Sanford and Sons) who's attending an outdoors basketball game where his nephew is playing.  When one of the players goes down with an injury, Uncle Drew takes the court and stuns everyone with a flurry of crossover dribbles, dunks, and three-point baskets, taunting his opponents all the while.  You may have seen a shorter version of this video during the NBA Finals.  After getting such a strong response over the first few weeks of its viral release, Pepsi MAX felt they had no choice but to find the media budget to do so. 

In the first two weeks, it grabbed almost 7 million views on YouTube and is at almost 13 million as of today.  If you have yet to see "Uncle Drew" - check it out here.

Pepsi also is quite strong in their music play.  Nicki Minaj was recently brought into the fold with Pepsi - signing a seven-figure endorsement deal with Pepsi expected to include an international commercial and a gig as the face of a new natural soda called "Pop" in fourth quarter.  They also recently announced a partnership with Twitter that includes a series of pop-up concerts that Pepsi will announce to its followers no more than two weeks before they are scheduled. The concerts will be live-streamed on Twitter and users will be able to post the songs they want to hear the artist play.  Katy Perry kicked it off a few weeks back performing on Jimmy Kimmel in advance of her Part of Me movie release.  There will be another concert at the end of July and then again at the end of August - with yet-to-be-determined artists.

So why not have Pepsi / Pepsi MAX take the Uncle Drew concept and pair it with music?  Maybe film a "documentary" on the writing and recording process for a new band?  An argument between the lead guitarist and the lead singer ensure and the guitarist quits.  Who better to step in, strap on a guitar to help finish the track but the drummer’s accountant / engineering looking dad - Hunter Hayes. 

Or…

When the lead dancer / choreographer for a state champion dance team is injured during practice, who is there to save the day, but a custodian - think Breakfast Club - who is really Justin Bieber or Nicki Minaj's choreographer -  Laurieann Gibson.

Or…

Prior to an orchestra’s grand performance, the featured soloist walks off the stage.  The conductor motions to a young usher in the house and invites them up on stage to take their place.  This could be a pianist, violinist or vocalist who is a child prodigy, a teen or maybe even Uncle Drew himself - with Kyrie Irving yielding his part to a "rookie of the year" in the music world.  Who in the house would ever think this usher could take the place of the featured performer?

There are quite a few logistics and adjustments that would need to be made in any of these suggestions to pull them off - but taking this idea and branching it into music - in all formats - could result in some tremendous results.  Pepsi fans across the country - or even the world - could begin sharing “What Happens When…" video segments featuring music.

Being a music lover and a Pepsi drinker all my life, I wanted to take the tremendous idea and execution of Uncle Drew and match it with my passions.

Until then - as Pepsi says - "Live for Now."

J-Lo's BRAND New Video

Jennifer Lopez recently released her new single, "Follow the Leader" featuring reggaeton stars Wisin & Yandel.  I really like the song but the video doesn't play like a music video.  It has action (a good chase scene around Acapulco), J-Lo sports a large Dragon Tattoo on her back as well as the word "Lideres" on her neckline and she does a good amount of gyrating on a rooftop - so what' not to like??!

The distractions.  It plays more like a brand video than a music video.  "Follow the Leader" begins with J-Lo and Wisin Tweeting back and forth…on a Blackberry.  Those are still cool?  OK - I have seen different mobile devices used in music videos so I guess I can give this a pass.  Next up is the Remy Martin being poured pool-side.  The bottle is positioned just right so the label can't be missed.  And the Under Armour warm up suit that J-Lo zips up before her adventure around the city - certainly looks great on her.  A Degree deodorant billboard takes center stage in the next scene and makes SEVERAL repeat appearances toward the end of the video.  Pepsi also gets some good positioning in the background and a wall advertisement for a snack bar gets a good slow motion look as well.  Oh - and don't miss the Dodge Ram truck they happen to need to jump over during their chase through the city…and it looked so nice and clean!!  Tired yet?  I am.  There are a few other brands that get a visual shout-out during this 5 minute clip but I am already tired of writing about the brands I have already mentioned. 

Brands and partnerships make their way into music all of the time.  My issue is honesty and engagement.  I don't believe that J-Lo truly cares about or uses most (if any) of these products on a daily basis.  She is a spokesperson for L'Oreal, Gucci, Venus and Love and Glamour.  But none of those brands make it into this video.  So what is she really selling us?  We want to believe that she uses and cares about these products…but it just comes off like a money grab.  I say that because I see no way that the brands in this video were really written into the story with much thought.  And if these are brands that Wisin &Yandel support on a daily basis - sorry - J-Lo is front and center in this video and I'm not thinking about them.  If the goal was for each of these brands to be IN a J-Lo video - then mission accomplished.  But I just don't see this as a realistic way to enhance the brand, drive sales  or strengthen engagement - especially at the rate we are pelted with brand images.  Are music videos moving in this Brand direction?  In the first 2:42 seconds of this video, no less than 10 different brands appear on screen.  For the next 1:18 - no brands appear at all.  The last minute of the video must then be reserved for that Degree billboard which appears five times directly above her head.  The final shot features J-Lo suddenly wearing a baseball cap (not sure where it came from) with the logo LL for Los Lideres…which happens to be a clothing line "Inspired by Wisin & Yandel."  Maybe J-Lo is just turning herself (as well as her music) into an audio billboard for her friends. 

So where is the engagement?  Degree was most prominently featured in the video so I thought I would check that out.  A quick search took me to J-Lo's "blog" at www.jenniferlopez.com where there is a picture of J-Lo in front of a Degree backdrop and a "The More You Move, The More It Works" Team J.Lo static picture.  It tells me to visit them on Facebook, but I can't click through on the FB icon because it isn't a live link.  So I scrolled further down where it told me that "Today's post is brought to you by Degree."  So " J-Lo-and-behold" (sorry, I couldn't resist) I am able to click on that logo as a live link.  It takes me to the Degree Facebook page featuring a Degree 30 second commercial about women wearing bells for a day to remind them of how much they move…but no mention, image or likeness of J-Lo was visible.  (J-Lo loves a lot in her video - maybe she should have worn the bells.)  This to me is a total miss.  There is no consistency to the campaign or the visual touch points.  OK - Degree is in the video and Degree is featured in J-Lo's blog on the website, but there is nothing controlled by Degree that has image and likeness of J-Lo.  Does she support the brand or not? 

So maybe I am still missing something.  Taking away the engagement side of this (which should be 75% of the program IMO) I asked my 11 year old daughter to come in and check out the new J-Lo video.  She likes J-Lo, watches AI every once in a while and liked her last song…so she is a fan.  Here are some of the questions and responses I asked her afterwards. 

Hey Carly - did you like the video?
"Yes"
What so you remember about the video?
"They were texting, there were a lot of flips and jumps and I remember a red truck."
Do you remember any products that might have been seen in the video?
"I saw a  Degree sign, her hat at the end (Los Lideres) and she was wearing a warm up suit."
Do you remember what they were texting with at the beginning of the video?
"Nope"
It was a Blackberry
"Aren't they old?  Why would J-Lo use something that is old to text with?"
Does the use of these products in the video make you want to use any of them? 
"Not really." 

At one point in "Follow the Leader," J-Lo sings, "Tonight we belong to the music."  Unfortunately, a more realistic lyric would be, "In my video - did you see all of the brands?"

Brands.  They need to be authentic to you and believable in what you do.  Without that - engagement will be little to none. 

Funny thing…if I had never seen the video I still would have really liked the song.