Red, white and blue soda

Change is coming to Canada, too. Well, at least according to Pepsi.  A white box with a big branded sticker on top arrived at the office yesterday. Inside were three cans of Pepsi, one new logo. The new emblem: a circle of red white and blue, with the central white "S" turned into a sort-of smile. It's new, it's fresh, it's clean, it's ... a lot like  something we've already seen, or so the blogosphere has been quick to say. 

Even  CNN called out the brand when it released what critics call an Obama-esque logo in the states in early '09. Nearly six months later, and well past 100 days of Obama-office, when I got someone from Pepsi on the phone, I still had to ask. The answer is, as follows:

Cheryl Radisa, vice-president of consumer marketing for PespiCo Canada said any similarities are entirely unintentional. “A lot of the fundamentals of that campaign were parallel to Pepsi’s messaging, but that was by coincidence, not design."

A basic denial, which could easily be true. Campaigns are conceived months in advance of their release, but a quick look through the new marketing materials shows a lot coming up Obama. Inside the box on a glossy piece of blue paper, outlined with thin red and white lines, reads a message from Pepsi: 

There's a movement afoot, and it starts with the joy of Pepsi. 

New Look. New Logo. New Everything. 

Join the Movement. Join It Forward.

Carefully crafted text, if I've read it right. The words taste sweet as they sink in, just like soda. But its hard to deny that this campaign is reminiscent of another one. The new look and new logo were contrived to appeal to the youth of America, who for a few months were Hope hagglers. Will the feel-good, change is coming, approach work? Probably. After all, this isn't generation x, it's  Generation Next. 

*My full campaign story, without all the speculation, can be read  here.