Pepsi is going to the next level in its long war with Coca-Cola by releasing a remake of its hit commercial, which first launched during Super Bowl 1995. For the new version, the white-red-and-blue soft drinks label chose sugar free versions of Pepsi Max and Coke Zero to keep up to the healthy trend and promote no calorie varieties of both drinks (with a huge shift to the first one, of course).

In the old spot by BBDO, a Pepsi delivery driver drops in at a fast-food restaurant to have lunch and meets a Coke driver at the counter. Its seems to be a perfect start for their friendship—they agree that the music (“Get Together,” by the Youngbloods) in the venue is great, shake hands, show the photos of their kids— but…  everything breaks down when the first man gives the counterpart his can to try soda. The Coke guy adores the taste and just doesn’t want to give it back, so the owner of the drink has to use his fists.

The plot of the new ad by TBWA/Chiat/Day is nearly the same, but with some modern twist, like new music (“Why Can’t We Be Friends?” by War) and smartphones. This time, the reason for fight is that the Pepsi guy is recording his ‘new friend’, while he’s drinking the rival soda, for YouTube. In the end, the two drivers, like it was in the first commercial, crash through the window.

“I was never happy with the old ending. I had shot a version with the guys coming out the window, and we had a long discussion, and Pepsi was concerned with the violence. The ending is completely satisfying now,” comments Joe Pytka, who directed the original ad and the remake.

As a nod to the ‘parent’ video, the new one features Art LeFleur, who came as the Pepsi driver in the original version and now plays the owner of the café. The straplines are also different—“Nothing else is a Pepsi” is substituted by “Zero calories, Maximum Pepsi taste.”

“People love the cola wars. People identify themselves in many cases as ‘I’m a Pepsi person’ or ‘I’m a Coke person.’ The rivalry is just a very integral part of our heritage for both Pepsi and Coke,” said Lauren Hobart, CMO for Sparkling Brands at Pepsi. Which are you?

Via New York Times