It was 2004. Roman ruins. A dusty Colosseum.
Britney Spears, Beyoncé, and Pink stood in the center of the arena wearing metallic leather armor that probably wasn't historically accurate but looked incredible on camera. They weren't there to fight. They were there to sing. Specifically, they were there to belt out Queen’s "We Will Rock You" while Enrique Iglesias played the role of a bored, Roman emperor who just wanted to see some blood.
The Pepsi ad We Will Rock You wasn't just a commercial. Honestly, it was a cultural reset.
Most ads today feel small. They’re designed for a six-second skip on YouTube or a frantic scroll past an Instagram story. But this was different. This was a five-minute cinematic event directed by Tarsem Singh, the guy who made The Cell. It cost a fortune. It featured the three biggest women in music at the absolute zenith of their powers. And somehow, twenty years later, we are still talking about it because it represents a style of "Big Swing" marketing that barely exists anymore.
The moment the Pepsi ad We Will Rock You changed everything
You have to remember the context of 2004 to understand why this hit so hard. Britney was transitioning out of her "In the Zone" era. Beyoncé had just dropped Dangerously in Love. Pink was the edgy alternative to the pop princess image. Putting them together was like assembling the Avengers, but with better vocal runs and more soda.
The plot is simple. The emperor (Enrique) wants a fight. The gladiators (the girls) decide they’d rather start a stadium-wide singalong. They toss their weapons, grab a Pepsi, and the entire crowd begins the iconic stomp-stomp-clap rhythm.
It’s cheesy. It’s over the top. It’s basically a high-budget music video that happens to have a blue logo at the end. But it worked because it didn't feel like a sales pitch. It felt like a moment in pop culture history that Pepsi just happened to be hosting.
Why the casting was a stroke of genius
A lot of brands try to do "star-studded" ads, but they usually fail because the stars don't actually fit together. Here, the chemistry was weirdly perfect.
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- Britney Spears: She was already the face of Pepsi. She’d done the "Joy of Pepsi" and the "Now and Then" spots. She brought the brand legacy.
- Beyoncé: She brought the powerhouse vocals and the rising "Queen Bey" energy that was starting to dominate the world.
- Pink: She provided the rock-and-roll grit needed to make a Queen cover actually feel authentic rather than just a bubblegum imitation.
And let’s not forget the cameos. Seeing Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen sitting in the audience as simple spectators was the ultimate seal of approval. It told the audience: "This isn't just a cover. It’s the real deal."
The production scale: They don't make them like this anymore
We talk about "viral" videos now, but back then, you had to earn your way onto the screen. This wasn't shot on a green screen in a warehouse in Burbank.
Tarsem Singh took the production to Rome. They used thousands of extras. The costumes were designed with intricate detail, blending ancient aesthetics with early-2000s MTV fashion. If you watch the behind-the-scenes footage, you can see the sheer logistics involved in coordinating three of the biggest egos (and schedules) in the world.
The budget was rumored to be in the tens of millions of dollars. For one commercial.
Think about that. Today, a brand would spend that money on 500 different TikTok influencers. They’d track clicks and conversions and "dwell time." Pepsi didn't care about dwell time. They cared about being the brand that defined the Super Bowl and international television for a decade. The Pepsi ad We Will Rock You was a flex. It was a way for the company to say, "We own the conversation."
The "Gladiator" aesthetic and 2000s maximalism
The visual style of the ad is very "300" meets "Moulin Rouge." It has that high-contrast, golden-hour glow that defined big-budget cinematography in the early 2000s.
It’s interesting to look back at how they used the Roman setting. It wasn't just a backdrop; it was a metaphor. The pop stars were the warriors. The music was the weapon. The soda was the peace offering. It’s a bit heavy-handed, sure, but in the world of 60-second storytelling, you don't have time for subtlety. You need big icons and bigger sounds.
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Why the song choice mattered (More than you think)
Using "We Will Rock You" was a calculated move.
First, it’s one of the most recognizable songs in human history. Second, it’s a song about collective power and defiance. By having these three women sing it against a male oppressor (Enrique's emperor character), the ad took on a subtle feminist undertone that resonated with the "Girl Power" movement of the time.
The arrangement was also handled brilliantly. It kept the raw, industrial stomp of the original but layered in the distinct vocal styles of the three leads. Beyoncé’s riffs, Britney’s breathy delivery, and Pink’s rasp actually blended into a version of the song that went on to be a hit in its own right on various international charts.
Most ads use music as background noise. In the Pepsi ad We Will Rock You, the music was the ad.
The legacy of the "Gladiator" ad in the age of AI
Fast forward to today. If a brand wanted to recreate this, they’d probably use AI to de-age the actors or generate the crowd scenes. It would feel hollow.
The reason this specific commercial still gets millions of views on YouTube every year is the authenticity of the spectacle. You can see the sweat. You can see the dust. You can hear the power in the vocals. There is a "realness" to the production that modern digital marketing often lacks.
It also marked the end of an era. Shortly after this, the internet began to fragment the audience. We stopped watching the same shows. We stopped seeing the same ads. This was one of the last times a single commercial could truly be a "water cooler" moment across the entire globe.
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Comparing it to modern Pepsi ads
If you look at Pepsi’s more recent attempts at massive celebrity collaborations—like the 2017 Kendall Jenner ad—you see a massive shift. That ad tried to be "important" and "socially conscious," and it failed miserably.
The "We Will Rock You" ad succeeded because it didn't try to solve the world's problems. It just tried to entertain. It understood that its job was to provide a three-minute escape into a world of gladiators, pop stars, and rock music. It respected the audience’s intelligence enough to know they just wanted a show.
What marketers can still learn from the Pepsi Gladiators
You don't need a $30 million budget to learn from this. The core principles are still valid for any business or creator trying to make an impact.
- Trust the Talent: Pepsi didn't make the girls change their style. They let Beyoncé be Beyoncé and Pink be Pink. When you collaborate, don't stifle the unique voice of the person you're working with.
- Go Big or Go Home: If you’re going to do something high-concept, lean into it. Don't do a "half-way" version of a gladiator arena.
- Music is a Shortcut to Emotion: Finding the right track—one that already has an emotional connection with the audience—is worth 90% of your marketing effort.
- Create a Spectacle, Not an Interruption: The best ads are the ones people actually want to watch.
The Pepsi ad We Will Rock You remains a masterclass in how to merge corporate branding with genuine entertainment. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the best way to sell a product is to throw a really, really good party and invite the whole world to watch.
Actionable insights for brand storytelling
If you're looking to capture even a fraction of this magic in your own content or business marketing, stop thinking about "ads" and start thinking about "events."
- Audit your collaborations: Are you picking partners because they have followers, or because their "vibe" creates a unique friction? The magic of the Gladiator ad was the unexpected combination of those three specific women.
- Invest in the "Hook": The first 5 seconds of that ad—the silence, the heavy breathing, the first stomp—set the stage. Ensure your content has a "sensory hook" that demands attention before a single word is spoken.
- Lean into nostalgia correctly: Don't just copy the past. Reimagine it. Pepsi didn't just play the Queen track; they re-recorded it and gave it a new visual language. If you're referencing a trend or a classic, add your own "leather-armor" twist to it.
The era of the $20 million TV spot might be fading, but the human desire for a grand, musical spectacle is never going away. We still want to be rocked. We just want to see someone put in the effort to do it.