You most likely know filmmaker and actor Taika Waititi from directing work just like the Marvel film Thor: Ragnarok or the Oscar award-winning film Jojo Rabbit. What you won’t know is that he’s additionally the inventive thoughts behind a number of Previous Spice advertisements, a bout of early 2010s PSAs for his dwelling nation of New Zealand, and a few of the most iconic Tremendous Bowl commercials of all time.
From the early days of his profession, between directing quick movies and showing in performing gigs, Waititi has saved up a constant cadence of advert work, starting from spots for native names just like the New Zealand Transport Company to greater manufacturers like Samsung. Whilst his Hollywood work has expanded, advert work stays a constant a part of his inventive churn.
In 2025, Waititi directed three completely different spots for the Tremendous Bowl. This yr, he’s returning to America’s largest sport with a brand new spot for Pepsi. Waititi says he retains coming again to the Tremendous Bowl for a similar motive he’s executed advert work for many years: it retains his inventive muscle mass firing.
“Selfishly, I’ve used the world of creating commercials as my filmmaking gymnasium,” he says.
Inside Pepsi’s new Tremendous Bowl spot
Waititi’s 2026 return to the Tremendous Bowl comes through a Pepsi spot titled “The Choice,” set to Queen’s I Wish to Break Free. The advert carries on Pepsi’s long tradition of lightheartedly bashing its principal rival, Coca-Cola, by signaling the prevalence of its cola’s style. This time, Pepsi turned to one among Coca-Cola’s most iconic symbols because the star of its new Cola Struggle spot: the Coca-Cola polar bear.
“I really feel like I’ve been watching the [Cola Wars] all my life, and so it was fairly enjoyable simply to participate in that and since it’s an iconic relationship that they’ve acquired,” Waititi says. He provides that the spot’s bear-centric storyline was already established earlier than he joined the challenge, and that “my principal job relating to this stuff is simply to assist solidify the tone, carry that by, and make it possible for it’s enjoyable and watchable.”
The bear has appeared in Coca-Cola’s promoting way back to 1922, together with in a few of its most beloved Christmas advertisements. In “The Alternative,” he’s confronted with the truth that he really prefers Pepsi over Coke after conducting a blind taste-test of the 2 sodas. The conclusion drives him to his therapist (performed by Waititi himself), earlier than he finally “breaks free” from Coca-Cola and enjoys a Pepsi in, weirdly sufficient, a parody of the viral Coldplay kiss cam moment from final summer season.
Why advertisements are Taika Waititi’s inventive gymnasium
Earlier than Waititi ever grew to become a family title, a lot of his intelligent, absurdist spots had already cemented themselves within the canon of promoting acclaim. Alongside the best way, these tasks have been quietly shaping his inventive voice and informing his bigger tasks.
In 2008, Waititi directed a collection of advertisements for Pot Noodle, together with one surrealist spot referred to as “Moussaka Rap”, a loosely Eminem-inspired track concerning the Greek casserole. In 2011, he tackled another rap video for Bitter Patch Children and an underwater ballad for Cadbury. His first large break within the advert world—and one among his most recognizable spots to this present day—was NBC’s 2012 Tremendous Bowl bash “Brotherhood of Man,” which featured expertise from on-air reveals on the time like The Workplace and Parks and Recreation (in addition to a now cringe-inducing cameo from The Apprentice’s Donald Trump), and which had such a fraught manufacturing that it’s inspired entire think pieces.
“What I keep in mind about that was simply how enjoyable it was to go to all of those completely different TV reveals and work with all of those individuals,” Waititi says, including with amusing, “Let’s not speak about everybody that I labored on that with.”
Waititi took a hiatus from the massive sport to provide iconic spots like Air New Zealand’s 2014 Lord of the Rings-inspired “The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made,” that includes Elijah Wooden; and a 2018 series of heavy hitters for Previous Spice. By the point he returned to directing for the Tremendous Bowl in 2025, Waititi was each an Oscar and Grammy winner. His spots final yr—a heartstring-pulling advert for Lay’s, two shorts for Properties.com that includes Morgan Freeman, and a brain-rottingly ridiculous ad for Mountain Dew starring humanoid seals—have been all met with a hearty dose of acclaim.
For Waititi, advert path isn’t only a aspect gig; it’s a software that’s formed his profession. Within the intervals between filming bigger tasks, he makes use of commercials to check new jokes, check out character concepts, experiment with VFX, and work on new digital camera and lighting methods. If he seems like they’re “actually good,” he says, he can use them in a movie in some unspecified time in the future down the highway.
“It’s enjoyable to play with the inventive house, and it’s not as dangerous for me after I’m making commercials,” Waititi says. “It’s simply sort of a play house, actually—a pleasant large sandpit.”
