London, United Kingdom – Pepsi has launched a new global campaign bringing together some of football’s most recognisable figures to celebrate fan culture and traditions surrounding the sport.
Announced ahead of a major summer of international football, the initiative introduces the “Pepsi Football Nation,” a multi-year global platform designed to connect football culture with fans’ everyday lives. The campaign is supported by a new brand film featuring football icons including David Beckham, Florian Wirtz, Lauren James, Vinícius Júnior, Alexia Putellas and Mohamed Salah.
The film begins with Beckham handing the “playbook” to fans, symbolically inviting them to define the rules of the Pepsi Football Nation. It then follows a series of stylised scenes that highlight football culture beyond the match itself.
Among them are Wirtz performing a precision parking manoeuvre that is humorously checked by a referee using VAR, James delivering a university lecture about breaking the offside trap, and fictional movie moments starring Vinícius Júnior, Putellas and Salah.
Throughout the film, fans reveal a set of informal “rules” that represent common rituals and debates within football fandom. These include Rule #7: Superstitions are Sacred, Rule #33: Who is the “King of Skill?”, Rule #84: You Must Wear Your Winning Jersey to Work, and Rule #100: Everything Gets Settled on the Pitch.
As part of the campaign, Pepsi will also introduce a digital activation tied to what it calls Rule #1 of the Pepsi Football Nation: “It’s called Football, Not Soccer.” Fans will be able to download a free web browser extension that automatically replaces the word “soccer” with “football” when browsing online content, including news articles and search results.
The brand is also bringing fan conversations to the online community platform Reddit, where supporters will be invited to debate and define their own rules and rituals around the game.
According to Pepsi, the initiative aims to spotlight the discussions, rivalries and traditions that shape football culture around the world.
Eugene Willemsen, Chief Executive Officer, International Beverages at PepsiCo, said: “Football has always gone beyond what happens on the pitch during the 90 minutes. It lives in conversations, rivalries, and traditions that bring fans together every day, across communities, markets and generations. Pepsi Football Nation celebrates that culture and the many ways fans experience the game beyond the match itself. For decades, Pepsi has been at the heart of the game; now, we’re honoring the shared experiences and ‘rules’ that unite fans worldwide.”
