After a two-year hiatus, Uncle Drew is back and it’s about time! The fourth installment for Pepsi Max shows Uncle Drew and his teammates taking over local basketball courts in Miami where a game of H-O-R-S-E determines the winner. But, when asked if he could spell “horse,” Uncle Drew replied that he’s never had to ”go beyond H.”
Reprising his role as Uncle Drew is Cleveland Cavalier’s star Kyrie Irving and this time he includes new players Ray Allen, Caron Davis, and J.B. Smoove in his adventures. Set in Miami, the video once again shows that things are not always as they seem. Although the old guys start off slowly, they are soon showing the youngsters how basketball is really supposed to be played. As the stars say – “it’s all about the buckets.”
The videos are a big hit for Pepsi Max and illustrate the product’s tag line of “a zero-calorie cola in disguise.” As a product in the mature stage of its product life cycle, Pepsi brings an “A-game” to the courts. A lesson to marketers: things are not always what they first appear to be.
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Start with a discussion about product life cycle.
- Have students identify products that fit into each of the product life cycle stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
- Discuss how products can maintain market share in the maturity stage. What tactics work best? What happens in the competitive space?
- Then show the latest Pepsi Uncle Drew video: https://youtu.be/ZY6GAOPGuPs
- The videos are also being used to promote the PepsiPass app: https://www.pepsipass.com/
- How do these videos fit the techniques needed for products in a mature industry?
- Divide students into groups: Similar to the Uncle Drew videos, have each group develop a tactic that could be used for a product in each of the product life cycle stages.
