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Travis Kelce and other football stars dressed up as Roman gladiators in Pepsi’s newest campaign, hours before the Kansas City Chiefs kick off the NFL season.
Pepsi shot the commercial to promote the upcoming Gladiator II film starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, and Connie Nielsen raising their swords several decades after the events of the first movie in ancient Rome.
The popular drink decided to parlay the movie’s upcoming premiere with the NFL season, which begins on Thursday night with the Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.
Starring in the commercial with Kelce are Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Ravens running back Derrick Henry, and Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson.
The ad also features rapper Megan Thee Stallion as the empress releasing tigers into the arena with the athletes.
Travis Kelce dressed as a Roman Gladiator in the latest campaign for Pepsi and the NFL
The three-minute commercial begins with two fans sitting at a bar, discussing their fantasy football teams and naming the four aforementioned players in their rosters.
After placing their drinks, the fans start hearing the iconic ‘stomp, stomp, clap’ from Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ before the rim of a Pepsi can morphed into a coliseum.
Kelce, Allen, Henry, and Jefferson emerged out of the tunnel with their breastplates and shields as a crowd erupted. After Kelce yells ‘Are you ready,’ Megan Thee Stallion demands silence and the gates be opened to let the tigers out.
The four then used football-like actions to fend off the big cats while the empress broke into a rap rendition of the Queen classic anthem.
The commercial was made to promote the upcoming Gladiator II movie starring Paul Mescal
Megan Thee Stallion played the empress and performed a rap rendition of ‘We Will Rock You’
Bills QB Josh Allen, Ravens RB Derrick Henry, and Vikings WR Justin Jefferson joined Kelce
After they tricked the final beast into its downfall, Megan descended into the circle, grabbed a Pepsi, and exclaimed ‘Let game day begin’ as everybody in attendance raised their drinks.
Pepsi is no stranger to gladiator-themed commercials.
In 2004, pop stars Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and Pink starred in a commercial with their rendition We Will Rock You. Singer Enrique Iglesias played the Emperor who got flung into a Lion’s den.
The classic commercial aired during the 2004 Super Bowl between the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots.
