Photo Credit: Pepsi Co.
Pepsi re-branded its crystal soda rival to Coca-Cola’s Sprite last year. Now it’s tapping rapper Ice Spice to highlight its new star.
Ice Spice will star in a Super Bowl commercial for Starry, the new soda that Pepsi launched last year after discontinuing its Sierra Mist brand. The rising star is likely a good choice, considering her connection to Gen Z and her rise to fame as a TikTok rapper. She will star alongside mascots Lem and Lime. AdAge reports that VaynerMedia is the creative agency responsible for the ad.
Pepsi Co. rebranded Sierra Mist last year in an attempt to take on Coca-Cola’s market dominance in the lemon-lime soda category. Michael Smith, the head of marketing for the Starry brand, told AdAge that its target consumers are “irreverent optimists.”
Of course, Pepsi Co. isn’t the first brand partnership Ice Spice has landed in her trend upwards, either. Last year in September 2023, the rapper starred in a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial to celebrate the arrival of pumpkin spice season. The ad premiered at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, where Ice Spice won the Best New Artist category.
Expanding her horizons beyond just music, Ice Spice has become a keen brand-aware musician. She also has a sponsorship deal with Chia Pet, which offers a terracotta bust of the rapper that fans can grow a chia ‘fro on. Not too bad for something your grandma used to give as a gift to people who are hard to buy gifts for. (Sorry Chia, it’s true.)
Most recently, Ice Spice released a new song snippet featuring a creative take on J. Cole’s ‘fart’ lyric from his album, The Off-Season. “I let you feel like you the sh**, but boy, you can’t out-fart me. You think you the sh**? B*tch, you not even the fart,” the lyric goes.
