Pepsi runs it back with Pelé, Ronaldinho, and Beckham in a new Max ad

Pepsi MAX has managed to gather football legends from different decades for a chinwag and a kickabout. Their latest campaign, 'Refresh the Game', sees today's women's football stars rubbing shoulders—or perhaps more accurately, nutmegging—with some of the sport's most iconic figures from yesteryear.

The 60-second ad features current football royalty Alexia Putellas, Leah Williamson, and Lauren James travelling through time like a trio of footballing Doctor Whos, joined by Caroline Graham Hansen and Farah Jefry.

Their mission? To play alongside legends who've graced Pepsi adverts over the past half-century, because apparently even soft drink commercials deserve their own cinematic universe now.

The campaign cleverly weaves together historic footage of Brazilian maestro Pelé with previous Pepsi advertisements featuring the beachside wizardry of Ronaldinho and a younger David Beckham—back when his hair was still doing things that defied both gravity and good sense.

It's akin to reliving your favourite childhood films through a modern reboot, albeit with a significant increase in fizzy drinks involved.

Speaking of Beckham, the retired Manchester United icon's relationship with Pepsi reads like a greatest hits album of early 2000s advertising. His partnership with the brand began in 1999.

Die-hard Beckham enthusiasts will fondly recall his 2002 'Sumo' commercial, where he and his peers faced off against actual sumo wrestlers in what was either an inspired piece of sporting theatre or someone's fever dream after too much sake.

Then came the memorable 2003 'Wild West' spot, featuring his Manchester United teammates Juan Sebastián Verón and Gary Neville, where the brand transformed a typical Western showdown into a penalty shootout.

In 2004, Pepsi unveiled 'Football Warriors', where Beckham donned medieval garb and used his footballing prowess to defend a stash of Pepsi.

For five decades, Pepsi has been threading itself through football culture, creating advertisements that have become as memorable as the matches themselves. From Pelé's 1970s debut with the brand to the current campaign celebrating women's football, the brand has managed to capture each era's zeitgeist whilst flaunting its carbonated beverages.

The 'Refresh the Game' campaign represents more than just clever marketing; it's a celebration of how football has evolved whilst maintaining its essential magic. After all, whether you're Pelé dazzling crowds in the 1970s or Putellas weaving spells on today's pitches, the beautiful game remains gloriously, thirst-inducingly beautiful.

PepsiCo generated nearly $92 billion in net revenue in 2024, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream.

PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.