Pepsi Holds The Standard For Branded Entertainment With Feature-Length Documentary

By Jordan P. Kelley, Content Director, Brand Storytelling

In the last few years, documentaries have become more popular with viewers than ever before. This is due in large part to the number of platforms available to consumers and the rise in the amount of content consumed by the public. There is also a growing number of visual storytellers who excel at their craft and are actively looking for the opportunities and capital they need to tell compelling stories. The increase in the number of quality storytellers and platforms looking to entertain with great documentaries both benefit brands in that they provide ample opportunity for brands to get into filmmaking and on to streaming platforms, where they can capture audience attention in spaces where there is often little to no traditional advertising.

But while there is an abundance of opportunity, there are just as many pitfalls awaiting the brand brazen enough to plunge headlong into filmmaking without putting the proper pieces in place. Any brand can’t just tell any story, as often a brand’s primary ROI when making a film is brand affinity and lift. There can’t be any half measures at any stage of filmmaking, from choosing creative and production partners to knowing what story to tell in the first place, otherwise, the film won’t achieve the resonance central to its purpose. For a brand to find success producing a documentary film, critical creative, personnel, and partnership choices must be made, beginning with finding the right story.

When Pepsi set out to make a documentary in late 2020, the right story was that of the Superbowl Halftime Show. As a brand with a legacy of involvement with entertainment and entertainers and rights to the Superbowl Halftime Show for nearly a decade, telling the story behind the making of the most-watched annual performance in the nation made perfect sense. Unique conditions created by COVID-19 allowed for production to take place and in the fall of 2021, Pepsi’s documentary “The Show” premiered on Showtime.

Brand Storytelling 2022: A Sanctioned Event of Sundance Film Festival hosted a conversation with PepsiCo’s Head of Content Development Allison Polly, Boardwalk Pictures Founder and President Andrew Fried along with the studio’s Head of Brand Storytelling Caitlin McGinty, and “The Show” Director Nadia Hallgren, moderated by Mediabrands Global Chief Content Officer Brendan Gaul. In it, the group discussed how a brand, with an appropriate story to tell and the correct partners, can achieve documentary filmmaking success at the highest level.

Ahead of producing “The Show”, Pepsi had been kicking around the idea of shooting the making of the Superbowl Halftime Show for several years. The global pandemic provided unique conditions that made 2021 the year to capture what goes on behind the scenes of what several panelists called “the most-watched 12 minutes of television a year”. The driver to make the film on Pepsi’s part was to extend the cultural conversation around the Superbowl Halftime Show beyond the months immediately preceding and following the big game. “We wanted to extend the equity beyond those 12 minutes”, said Allison Polly.

The next step of the process involved building out the trinity that is at the structural core of all the best brand films – finding a production partner and a distributor. Inspired by their work on the series “7 Days Out”, Pepsi had been looking for an opportunity to work with the filmmakers at Boardwalk Pictures. The powers that be at Boardwalk seemed to understand the vision immediately. “How do we tell the story of all that goes into the making of those 12 minutes”, posited Boardwalk Founder Andrew Fried. Boardwalk’s existing relationship with Showtime made the premium network an ideal distribution partner. All that was left to do was find the right storyteller.

Nadia Hallgren, an accomplished filmmaker with a background in telling intimate, human-driven stories, was tapped by Boardwalk Pictures to helm the making of “The Show”. Hallgren’s finely honed skill for storyfinding led her to where to put her focus and her camera, which ultimately was on a group of individuals coming together to practice their craft at the highest level, with the show’s performer, The Weeknd, at the center. “It’s a real human story about someone’s dreams coming true,” said Nadia. The key to telling that story, however, would be to earn access, build trust, and tell the honest tale of orchestrating such a show under unprecedented circumstances and for many, including the performer, for the first time. Nadia was able to do just that, making everyone in front of and behind the camera feel comfortable, including The Weeknd. Her creative and documentary instincts resulted in capturing exhilarating, uplifting, and purely joyful moments in the film.

“Pepsi truly walks the walk in terms of partnership”, said Boardwalk’s head of Brand Storytelling Caitlin McGinty. The expediency with which production was initiated by Pepsi, the clarity of vision from brand to producer to filmmaker, and the precision and artfulness of its capturing by Hallgren resulted in the film being delivered in six months. The film debuted on Showtime in September of 2021, seven months after the halftime show took place and in the perfect window to bridge the gap between Superbowl LV and Superbowl LVI. Pepsi had not only achieved its internal goals in making “The Show” but had demonstrated the ability for a brand to throw its hat in the documentary ring at the highest level and compete in the arena of mainstream entertainment.

A brand film is only as good as a brand’s understanding of why the film should exist and how to bring it to life. While that might seem like a simple charge, it is far from easy. Pepsi continues to hold the standard for brand-funded feature-length entertainment by telling stories that are directly tied to the brand but also entertaining enough to stand on their own two feet. The brand continues to work with quality creatives and best-in-class producers and distribute content at the highest level. For other brands looking to take advantage of the bountiful opportunity granted by the great number of distribution platforms abound and an even greater number of documentaries, take note: Pepsi proves that the right story, the right production partners, and the right visual storyteller make all the difference in finding brand filmmaking success.