Pepsi Kick print visual - tastes or kicks?

Let’s talk about design. There are no rules how to touch human hearts except by inspiration. And this is the effect, which every advertising visual should have.

But here comes one example for a big company with long tradition, launching new energy drink with an advertising print visual, which makes me say: “Is it real?”

Here is the print visual of Pepsi energy drink, called Pepsi Kick, which one is already launched into the Dutch market. What do you think about it?

In fact there are a lot of people, who like it. But this fact doesn’t delete the truth. And the truth is:

• the idea and the message “Tastes like Pepsi, kicks like boom” are good, but the visual execution isn't
• the whole visual looks so artificial, that you lose the meaning of the message
• the bottle is looking so strange. Is it a 3D model? Look the shadows and the light on it. Then look again. Is it a good looking product, which one you would like to grab? It’s a dark, sad looking plastic bottle and even the colorful background could not compensate this.

So this visual tastes like Pepsi, but kicks like something else.

Have a great day.

K.K.