This is one of those commercials where I remembered the Pepsi slogan, but I never really thought about everything they packed into the minute.
This one is actually known as “Big Town U.S.A.”, and instead of spending much time telling us how Pepsi tasted, they turned New York City itself into the commercial. We get couples, kids playing in the streets, a hot dog cart, fire hydrants, the Brooklyn Bridge and that boy carrying his baseball glove all the way to an almost completely empty Yankee Stadium. The Smithsonian even has this commercial preserved as part of its Pepsi Generation collection.
And that familiar “You’ve Got a Lot to Live, and Pepsi’s Got a Lot to Give” jingle has quite a story of its own. It was written by Joe Brooks, who later wrote “You Light Up My Life,” and Pepsi even had artists including Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Tammy Wynette and Three Dog Night record versions of the campaign music.
What really stands out looking back is how little this feels like a traditional soda commercial. Pepsi was selling youth, neighborhoods, friendships and a way of life — exactly what the Pepsi Generation idea was designed to do.
How many of you remembered the commercial itself — and how many immediately remembered that Pepsi jingle?