Why The Therapist In The Pepsi Super Bowl Ad Looks Familiar
Super Bowl LX is set to take place on February 8, 2026, and the onslaught of clever marketing campaigns is well underway. Pepsi's latest ad has people talking — for more reasons than one. It depicts a polar bear, notably Coke's most famous mascot, taking part in a blind taste test involving Pepsi Zero Sugar and Coke Zero. Guess which soda wins. (Psst... It's Pepsi, although, according to a Mashed poll, only one in three soda drinkers actually prefer Pepsi over Coke.)
Shaken to his very core by the discovery, the bear seeks professional help from a therapist, portrayed by none other than the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind "Thor: Ragnarok" and "What We Do In The Shadows," Taika Waititi. Counseling the bear wasn't Waititi's only role, of course. He also put his lauded directing skills to use. "I love a good challenge, so I jumped at the chance to take part in what many consider the biggest pop culture competition outside of Streaming vs. Theatrical," Waititi said in a press release, adding, "I'm honored to play a small part in the Pepsi legacy — and the iconic Cola Wars." The ad encapsulates much of what has become Waititi's signature style, including his quirky use of humor and colorful visuals.
Sides have been chosen
The 2026 Pepsi ad (pointedly called "The Choice") isn't the only Super Bowl commercial Taika Waititi has directed for PepsiCo. Remember that wild Mountain Dew ad from 2025 that featured singer Seal transformed into an actual seal? That was also Waititi's work. However, the director suggests to People that the latest one feels monumental. "[The Cola Wars have] become such a memorable and deeply ingrained part of pop culture and, weirdly, of the human experience."
Writing himself into the ad as a therapist wasn't exactly a Quentin Tarantino move either. Waititi has serious acting chops, having starred in the 2014 cult horror comedy "What We Do in the Shadows" as a 379-year-old vampire named Viago. Though Viago was too preoccupied with blood to worry about whether Pepsi is better than Coke, the rivalry may have infiltrated Waititi's real life. While the director seems to have aligned himself with Pepsi at this point, his wife, Rita Ora, appeared in a Coke Zero ad in 2016.