Pepsi UK is adding a bit more adrenaline to its non-energetic drink Pepsi Max with its new online effort, The Unbelievable Channel, that is rolling out on YouTube. The campaign, which syncs with the brand’s “Live for Now” positioning, targets a younger generation of guys who love extreme sports and want more of this energy. The online channel will feature numerous videos documenting unbelievable feats and experiences delivered by Pepsi Max and the ad agency AMV BBDO.

With less than a week left before Super Bowl XLVI, which is both a major sport competition and an important advertising event, brands are bringing forth their new commercials or just teasers to hint on what the public will see in the breaks of the big game. Recently, we wrote about some of the auto adverts, which will be aired during the match on February 5 (since that time a bunch of new auto spots—Audi’s vampire story and Honda‘s ad featuring Matthew Broderick to name a few—have been revealed), and about Coca-Cola’s hilarious contribution, the Coke Polar Bowl interactive campaign. But what about Coke’s major rival, Pepsi? As it turns out, it also has something to show during the game—the brand created two ads, for Pepsi and Pepsi MAX, which will air this Sunday.  

Carbonated drink brands put male into focus this fall—a few weeks ago, Dr Pepper rolled out its Ten version for machos across the U.S., and now Pepsi MAX, another brand targeting male consumers, is stepping out with the new marketing activity revolving around male friendship. For the new digital campaign dubbed Top Mates, which has been launched on Facebook, the brand teamed up with advertising agency Clemenger BBDO Sydney. The promotion, which is supported by TV and radio elements across the country as reported by www.bandit.com.au, will be running for a month, but the brand is going to continue using this idea for further fan engagement.

Comparison stands behind any considered choice, and any confident global brand tends to provide its consumers with an opportunity to examine both the positive and negative sides of their products—and sometimes weigh its offerings against goods by other manufacturer. Sometimes, companies also step outside the product world and help compare lots of other things—sexes, automobiles, brothers, tastes, political parties, athletes and more—to help determine which of the two is better, stronger, messier, tastier, faster, more attractive, reliable, sportive, etc.  In this overview, we won’t focus on serious ratings revealing carbon footprint or social impact, like Nike’s Environmental Apparel Design Tool, Timberland’s Eco Index or GoodWill’s rating—instead, as tribute to April Fool’s Day, which was celebrated last Friday, we will focus on humorous and tongue-in-cheek projects.

The Doritos ‘Pug Attack’ user-created commercial about a dog which goes for chips scored the No.1 ranking in the 2011 USA TODAY Super Bowl Ad Meter rating, bringing its creator, JR Burningham, one million dollars as a prize from PepsiCo. This year’s top-five also includes by Bud Light ‘Dog Sitting’ ad (which received 8.5 Ad Meter Score just like the winning spot), Volkswagen’s little Darth Vader commercial, Doritos ‘House Sitting’ (created by Tynesha Williams, won $400,000) and Pepsi MAX ‘Love Hurts’ spots.

Pepsi Max is offering new ways to rid of those who don’t let you enjoy a can of your favourite soda. The fizzy drink brand released a series of tongue-in-cheek spots, featuring guys who just want to escape from the imperfect reality (in which they got to do unpleasant things like having dinner with a girl-friend’s parents, shopping with her or having a tough conversation with a boss) and spend some time with buddies.