Pepsi and the Chinese monks

Sheila McElroy

Pepsi commercial with Chinese monks -- “ASK FOR MORE”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40DykbPa4Lc&NR=1

This Pepsi commercial was a real challenge. You do not have the luxury of any narrative to tell the story. It is the music and monk’s culture that tells us the story. We have a cultural knowledge of the life of the monks, ie: the remote location, the extremely tall door with the symbol of their beliefs on it as you enter the temple, old men with shaved heads, the master with a long white beard, silence. The music is what we would expect from a monks’ temple, very shoalin, spiritual. It is steady throughout and then intensifies as the story becomes dramatic.

It is the story of a young boy wanting to become a monk. He walks up a long stone staircase to the door of the temple. He is welcomed in, but to become one of them, he must dress as they do, have his head shaved as they do, become a student of their spiritual ways and train in martial arts. As an adult student he must now prove his worthiness to become one of them. The music crescendos’ as he shows them the skills he has mastered. Upon completion of his exhibition, every monk picks up the can of Pepsi before them. They open it and raise it as if to toast him for a job well done and they all drink. It makes the student smile. It is satisfying. He sets it down and looks around at the other monks. He notices that they all have the same markings on their foreheads. He looks confused and then notices that it is the same as the insignia on their flag. He looks down at his Pepsi can and realizes that the top of the open soda can is the same as the markings. He smashes his forehead onto his Pepsi can, crushing it; creating the marking on his forehead…..for it is their symbol of worthiness and acceptance.

Even though the story doesn’t really have anything to do with Pepsi, they know that if they can make the commercial unexpected, memorable, their product will sell itself. Using Chinese monks, who live in a remote location, are very rigid in their teachings and spiritual, tells us that Pepsi is everywhere. In reality, Pepsi is probably not used as some sort of ‘custom’ to acknowledge worthiness or acceptance. But in the monk’s case, it was the marking the can left on their foreheads that proved their worthiness. So wouldn’t any brand of beverage in a can work? I think not….Pepsi is the best!

I could never figure out what “ASK FOR MORE” has to do with the commercial. More cans to make more markings elsewhere on your body? More kung-fu fighting to get more Pepsi? I just don’t know.