Dr Pepper Encourages People to Get Weird Instead of Doomscrolling (original) (raw)

When faced with boredom, many people’s first reaction might be to turn to their phone. Dr Pepper, however, is prescribing a dose of weirdness to treat everyday monotony.

A bizarre campaign, created by London agency Pablo, personifies Dr Pepper as a medical doctor with a soda can for a head. This doctor’s cure is to inject strangeness into the public’s breaks.

The brand is running dozens of out-of-home (OOH) displays in the U.K. with messages based on the time of day when people might be taking a break from work. For example, one ad recommends, “Take your tastebuds somewhere weird for lunch,” while another reads, “Liberally apply to the tongue, face and 2pm meetings.”

Meanwhile, Dr Pepper’s video ads will interrupt dull viewing with odd scenes such as people riding tiny bicycles or a human-bird hybrid strumming a guitar and screeching.

Dozens of OOH displays have custom messages based on the time of day.Dr Pepper | Pablo

The campaign is a response to the habit of mindless social media browsing and the phenomenon of doomscrolling, in which people spend excessive amounts of time reading negative news and posts online. 97% of Gen Z admit to doomscrolling in their breaks, according to a 2023 report in Harvard Business Review.

“At Dr Pepper, we believe that ‘weird’ is something magical, energizing, and surprisingly good,” Henry Poynor, creative strategy director at The Coca-Cola Company, said in a statement. “It’s the perfect remedy to energize a boring break time that usually has us sitting on our phones while guzzling down the same old meal deal at our desks before getting back to the grind.”

This is the second wave of Dr Pepper’s “Try More Weird” brand platform that launched last year with a refresh of the soft drink’s packaging design after a decade-long marketing hiatus in the U.K.

That work used a mix of shopper activation, influencer engagement, and experiential marketing to encourage people to embrace their quirks.

CREDITS

Agency: Pablo London
Executive creative director: Dan Watts
Creative directors: Gustavo Bonzanini & Adam Reincke
Creatives: Rohit Tharakan and Fei Waller
Managing director: Harriet Knight
Account management: Alex Worthington, Lucy Machin, Tom Etheridge, Tilly Humphreys
Strategy: Chris Turner, Oliver Edridge
Project management: Emma Thompson, Kieran Worboys
Production: Tom Moxham, Adrianne Langley, Haben Ghebre
Animation & motion graphics: Mark Harrison & Sam Barcham
Design: Viren Patel, Emily Forrester, Steve Savory, George Willment

On screen talent/Dr Pepper head: Freddie Meredith
Voice over: Peter Egan

Production & Post House: Agile Films
Director: Louis Bhose
Producer: Harry Chambers
Production assistants: Ben Heath, Francis Rudd
1st AD: Alasdair Copland
DOP: Nicolas Booth
1st AC: Christian Wood
2nd AC: Rory Thomas
DIT: Jaden Dayle
Sound recordist: Jon Gibson
Gaffer: Charlie Lodge
Spark: Alexander Styles
SFX technician: Joshua Guess
Production designer: Jade Rache
Props master: Jake Garett
Art assistants: Sam Storey, Morris Pusey
Wardrobe assistant: Chantal Diane
Location manager: Marta Literska

Editors: Louis Bhose, Oli Birginshaw, Martin Flicking

Sound House: 750MPH
Sound engineer: Mike Bovil