Pepsi's "Hofficial" Spokesman
by , (3 comments)
Its no secret that international companies have different advertising strategies in different countries. Sometimes they even have different brands for the same product in different countries. And sometimes they have David Hasselhoff as a spokesman in one country and not in another.
Michael Knight, Pepsi spokesman? In 2006? Really?
Sadly, this is not the case here in the good ol’ US of A, so I’m sorry if I got your hopes up. However, an old friend from my college days is currently on vacation in Australia, and as he told me via email, when they checked into their hotel room, his wife opened the blinds to discover a giant 40’ Hasselhoff in Elvis Costume staring her down, promoting Pepsi Samba, a Tropical Flavored Cola that I believe is only available Down Under. (Correct me if I’m wrong)
As soon as he found a computer with an internet connection, he sent me a simply grotesque photo taken from his hotel room window. It wasn’t the best photo (or piece from the campaign, for that matter), so I went online and found a better image to share:
And here I thought The Hoff had been exiled to Germany. Seems I was mistaken.
In any event, its always interesting to see design and ads that we don’t have here in America, so I thought I’d share this particularly interesting example.
Now go get some Hoffcons already from the Hofficial site. And if you’re in Australia, drink a Pepsi Samba for me. You bet.
Comments (3)
Travis Gray said:
man. that’s pure gold.
(if anyone needs more of a Hoff fix, also check out YouTube’s results for a Hasselhoff search.)
Posted on February 14, 2006
Bennett said:
While I see the irony of getting serious on a fun post such as this, I will do so anyway. This is a good reminder of the importance of knowing the culture of who you are communicating with. While Tom would like nothing more than Mr. Hoff being Pepsi’s spokesperson in the US, I doubt he would be as effective in connecting with the rest of the public.
This is also a good reminder to sit back and enjoy stuff like this. Thanks for bringing the levity Tom.
This is also furthering our dominance of “anything remotely related to soft drink design” coverage. Mountain Dew/Fresca design, vintage can design, Joe Duffy, Coca-Cola Company branding and now Pepsi advertising.
Posted on February 15, 2006
Tomi Mguni said:
Ive just came up with a wonderfull idea for marketing campaign wich i really want to share with the Co of Pepsi.Until know the best i could do is jump from one operator to the other and noone would want to connect me with a person authorized to make decisions.If anyone of you could help me reach such a person or just direct me to the right way Id be very greatfull.My Plan is worth it!
Posted on August 23, 2007