How Did PepsiCo Showcase Its Brand Purpose at Super Bowl LX?

Nearly 125 million viewers watched Super Bowl LX, where the Seattle Seahawks triumphed over the New England Patriots, making it the second most-viewed Super Bowl ever. But for brands with major sponsorship positions, the event becomes more than about sport.

The level of visibility offered an opportunity to demonstrate corporate values at scale. PepsiCo used its platform at Levi's Stadium to align its brand positioning with sustainability messaging, integrating environmental initiatives into multiple touchpoints across the event.

The food and beverage company worked with Levi's Stadium to implement sustainability-focused activations that connected its pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) brand strategy to tangible on-ground initiatives.

Brand activation through reusable programmes

PepsiCo piloted a reusable cup programme with the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium throughout the season, preventing more than 32,000 disposable plastic cups from reaching landfills.

The brand expanded this initiative at Super Bowl LX, allowing fans in designated sections to use durable reusable cups that could be returned to nearby bins for collection, cleaning and reuse.

The company deployed more than 200 collapsible, reusable recycling bins across event spaces, creating branded touchpoints that reinforced its environmental messaging.

At the NFL's fan festival in San Francisco, Super Bowl Experience, PepsiCo partnered with Intuitive AI to implement Oscar Sort AI units at bins. These units helped fans identify the correct disposal location for packaging, using AI cameras to distinguish between waste, recycling or compost.

Jim Andrew, Chief Sustainability Officer at PepsiCo, said on LinkedIn: "I was thrilled to be at Super Bowl LX and see our sustainable packaging efforts in action throughout the week – from expanding our reusable cups pilot in the stadium to deploying AI recycling units to help fans reduce waste.

"Advancing packaging circularity is a complex challenge that requires widespread collaboration, investments, enabling policies and systemic shifts, but initiatives like these can demonstrate what it takes to drive progress.

"Sustainability is a team sport, and I'm incredibly proud and grateful to our teams who helped bring pep+ front and centre and made sustainable packaging a significant part of this year's Super Bowl story!"

Community engagement as brand positioning

PepsiCo extended its brand presence beyond environmental initiatives by supporting local communities during Super Bowl week. The company partnered with student hunger charity GENYOUth and the PepsiCo Foundation to provide grants to 60 Bay Area schools, increasing access to healthy meals and active play.

The organisations collaborated to surprise a local tutor and community assistant with Super Bowl tickets from PepsiCo and the NFL, creating a brand moment that highlighted community work around student hunger.

These community-focused initiatives demonstrated how brands can use high-profile sporting events to amplify social impact programmes. By connecting corporate social responsibility efforts to the Super Bowl platform, PepsiCo positioned itself as a brand that extends beyond product marketing to address systemic challenges in education and food security.

Monica Bauer Mengelberg, Senior Vice President, Social Impact at PepsiCo, said on LinkedIn: "Super Bowl weekend is always memorable, but the moments that stay with me most are the ones grounded in purpose and community.

"This work and the people who bring it to life show that ending student hunger is within reach. I'm so proud of how PepsiCo shows up, on the field and far beyond it… and we're just getting started!"

Broadcasting brand values through advertising

During the Super Bowl broadcast, PepsiCo's Lay's commercial focused on the farmers within its supply chain. The advertisement featured a father passing his farm to his daughter, showcasing multigenerational farmers who grow potatoes for the brand.

The creative approach connected Lay's to regenerative agriculture practices across PepsiCo's farmer network, framing the brand as part of a broader food systems narrative.

By centring its advertising on agricultural heritage rather than product features, Lay's used the Super Bowl platform to communicate long-term sustainability commitments. The multigenerational narrative reinforced brand authenticity whilst positioning PepsiCo's supply chain practices as central to its corporate identity.

Jim wrote on LinkedIn: "Our Lay's Super Bowl commercial spotlights a father and daughter passing down a way of life, a reminder that our food system is built by real families and multiple generations of farmers, not abstractions. At PepsiCo, we're a company rooted in agriculture.

"The strength of our business depends on resilient farms that supply the crops we use to make our iconic products, like potatoes for Lay's.

"It's why we focus on scaling regenerative agriculture practices across millions of acres worldwide, collaborating with local farmers to support improved soil and watershed health, biodiversity and crop yields so farmers can keep farming and our business can continue to grow in the near- and long-term."