Pepsi launched its inspirational African-themed Pepsi 2010 Football Campaign, headlined by eight of the world's greatest footballers including Akon, the king of hip-hop, and Zani, a young Thai performer who joined 15 others and Akon to record the Pepsi football anthem.
Eric Kitjatanapan, Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading's General Manager - Beverage , 2010 is a golden year for football, where all eyes will be on Africa. Pepsi is blending music elements perfectly into its sports platform, making the Pepsi 2010 Football a great campaign to allow consumers to cheer their hearts out while encouraging football fans to refresh the world. Pepsi is also integrating give-back elements into many aspects of the campaign to help encourage the betterment of society.
Parinya Permpanich, Marketing & Sales Operations Director for Serm Suk plc , said the campaign is scheduled to run until mid-year.
"We have set aside about Bt100 million to support this campaign," he said.
The campaign contains four parts: First to spark football excitement with the "Oh Africa" anthem and music video, performed by Akon, the most influential hip-hopper and multi-platinum selling artist, Grammy-nominated Keri Hilson and 16 aspiring performers from around the world, including Zani-Nipaporn Thititanakarn, a young performer from Thailand who was the AF6 winner.
Second, allow the downloading the 'Oh Africa' anthem from www.pepsithai.com or mobile phone *4908 ext. 44. The funds raised from the downloads will be donated to Akon's "Konfidence Foundation" to help underprivileged Africans.
Third, introduce African-styled football through Pepsi's eight football superstars: Fernando Torres, Ricardo Kaká, Lionel Messi, Frank Lampard, Thierry Henry, Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba, and Andrei Arshavin,
who appear throughout the campaign in spectacular African body paint.
Additionally, Didier Drogba did not accept his talent fee from his involvement in the Pepsi football campaign, so Pepsi donated Drogba's proceeds to the Didier Drogba Foundation to support the construction of a hospital in the player's hometown of Abidjan.
A new TV commercial: Pepsi took its global football stars to shoot the "Pepsi Africa" commercial outside the arena, with Pepsi superstars competing against locals on an African-style pitch.
By connecting to www.pepsithai.com, fans will have access to interactive games, each designed to take the user on a zero-to-hero journey. Visitors can also enjoy the 'Oh Africa' music video and download the song.
Fourth, Thai fans can win a tour to South Africa to meet Fernando Torres and work with him to build a football pitch for underprivileged children. There are also 200 prizes of Samsung home theater systems worth Bt32,990 each.
"Given the great collaboration between EDUN, the Didier Drogba Foundation, Akon's Konfidence Foundation as well as his contribution to the 'Oh Africa' track, I believe that the Pepsi 2010 football campaign will be recognised by consumers as the most inspiring, engaging and rewarding campaign yet," added Parinya.
Eric concluded, "We wanted to use our best platforms, football and music, to connect with fans everywhere and thrill them with Pepsi's activation all this season.
