Steal Pepsi Max: promoting theft of their own product.

I saw the new Pepsi Max TV ad last night , and was slightly bemused. The ‘Pepsi Max guys’ are at a cricket match. In a chiller box the steward has a raft of Pepsi Max cans. A streaker runs on the pitch, the steward chases her, and when he returns the Pepsi Max has gone. Yet our ‘heroes’ are drinking cans of it, and then the punchline… one of their number returns to his seat taking off his girl disguise suit.

Now while it’s meant to be funny, it’s effectively showing the brand heroes stealing the drink. The message is meant to be Pepsi Max is cool and naughty, but it also seems to indicate that nicking it is fine too and just a laugh. What a rather silly premise; I suspect supermarkets and vendors wouldn’t take the same view if people decided to follow Pepsi’s ‘help yourself’ motif from their stores – never mind the company itself.

Am I just having a sense of humour failure…

Comment and Discuss.