Okay, here we have what looks to me like an Alice in Wonderland scenario where people do a stupid TV show singing contest thing to win a Pepsi. (Have they ever thought of just buying one? Seriously: so many ads show people doing ridiculously illegal and aggressive things to steal the product, when they could just buy one. And if everyone wanted one that much, they would just buy it, and they wouldn’t need an ad.) So, okay, this ad just makes Elton John seem like Jabba the Hut to me. And I’m pretty sure that’s what they were thinking of, too. So, did Elton John know he would be presented as a Jabba the Hut-type? It’s pretty clear from the lever that makes contestants fall through the floor into a cave-like prison that they’re referencing Jabba the Hut from Return of the Jedi. Did the ad agency tell Elton John that? I think the royal clothing was to keep him from figuring it out, perhaps…
Here’s the soda singing spot:
