Shots fired, most definitely! Pepsi's teaser for Super Bowl LX directly shows a Coca-Cola can alongside a Pepsi can and features an animal that has been associated with Coca-Cola for over 30 years - a Polar Bear! The blind test is associated with Pepsi since the 1970s when Pepsi started ads using this 'Pepsi Challenge'.
And the actual ad, which will be launched during the Super Bowl game on February 8, 2026, is directed by Taika Waititi!
The question is, what is Coca-Cola planning to do 1/4
2/4 about this frontal assault on the biggest advertising night in the US? Will Coca-Cola do something before, during, or after Pepsi releases its final ad?
Option 1 - Before: Since the teaser is already out, Coca-Cola has a clear runway of 12 days to ambush Pepsi, if they wanted to.
Option 2 - During: Or, they could go head-to-head and release something online to tackle Pepsi's ad as it releases during the game.
Option 3 - After: The third option is to see what the Pepsi ad is all about
3/4 and then calmly respond with a counter, a week later.
All three options would generate insane amount of attention and chatter anyway because people love the cola-wars.
Option 4 - Do nothing.
I'm in 'Team Before'.
The teaser has a direction that seems mildly predictable - Pepsi Challenge, 'How many people prefer Pepsi in blind taste tests?' as a question, Polar Bear (blind-folded) = something that seems like what we would end up seeing. They're obviously not going to say that more people
4/4 prefer Coca-Cola. Or they could say that Polar Bears continue to prefer Coca-Cola in blind taste tests, but actual people prefer Pepsi, which could be the sly twist in the 'surprise' the ad is referring to :)
Can Coca-Cola plan a pre-Pepsi-ad ambush with this information?
We will wait and watch! :)
Karthik S