Vini Jr. saddles-up while Jack Grealish heads to the jungle in latest PEPSI® campaign

The campaign encourages football fans to ditch midweek routine for UEFA Champions League action.

Pepsi has launched its latest global football campaign, encouraging fans around the world to break their midweek routines to experience the enjoyment of UEFA Champions League football.

Featuring ambassadors Jack Grealish and Vini Jr, the campaign sets out to show that “Football Always Wins” over other forms of entertainment.

In the set of films created for the campaign, Jack Grealish and Vini Jr. challenge fans to break with their midweek routines that might include watching TV game shows, Telenovela serial dramas, or Wuxia martial arts shows and to embrace instead the opportunity to watch more sport. The global campaign coincides with Pepsi's partnership with the UEFA Champions League.

In the first two films, Vini Jr. is transported into the Telenovela format popular across Latin America, donning a cowboy outfit for his role. The player rides a horse towards a potential romantic partner, but just as the two lock eyes, Vini Jr. decides to choose football and instead controls a ball on his chest. The film closes with Vini Jr. standing on his horse’s saddle, demonstrating that football should always win in a choice between a soap opera and a match.

Whilst this epic competition can turn a routine Tuesday or Wednesday into the best moment of the week, Pepsi’s latest campaign recognises that fans around the world encounter habits and routines which might stop them from watching and enjoying midweek games.

Vini Jr. said, “When I was younger and growing up in Brazil, I clearly remember sprinting back from school as fast as I could to catch the start of European matches. I remember being glued to the screen, dreaming of one day playing on those pitches. Now I’m there, my goals and ambitions are always about taking my game to the next level. I want to score more goals, provide more assists, and be a decisive player in every competition”.

The second film, due to be released next week, will feature Vini Jr. transported into the Chinese fiction genre, Wuxia. Two martial artists are shown preparing to fight each other but are dramatically interrupted by Vini Jr., armed only with a football. Once again, Football Always Wins.

Vini Jr. continues, “Playing a martial artist in the new Pepsi campaign was amazing—it felt like stepping into a completely different world. But I have to say, the cowboy outfit was such an unexpected and fun look for me. As for what’s next? Who knows! Maybe I’ll get to be a superhero or even dive into the world of music”.

In a standalone film featuring Jack Grealish, we find him taking on a traditional gameshow challenge based in the jungle.

The film opens with a group of contestants crawling in the mud in an attempt to find a giant ball to slot into a hole in the wall. Having struggled to complete the challenge, Jack Grealish appears from nowhere and kicks a football straight through the hole, completing the challenge and once again demonstrating that Football Always Wins.

Jack Grealish said, “Those who know me know how much I love game shows. So, when Pepsi revealed I’d be taking on a series of jungle-inspired challenges for its latest campaign, I couldn’t wait to get involved!”

In supporting content for the campaign Jack Grealish is dispatched to the “jungle” as he’s challenged to test himself with a series of mystery boxes to unlock the winning Pepsi and the enjoyment of mid-week football. The “Football Always Wins” campaign will later be extended with a series of social assets in which Jack and Vini Jr. encourage football fans to stop their scroll and tune in to UEFA Champions League games. The three players will “hack” popular TikTok memes to present the match as more fulfilling entertainment.