Pepsi revives Derek Zoolander as its new spokesmodel

Pepsi has a new very good looking spokesmodel. 

The cola brand’s latest campaign, "Great Acting or Great Taste," debuted during Super Bowl LVII with actors Steve Martin and Ben Stiller promoting its Pepsi Zero Sugar product in two 60-second commercials in which they do what they do best: act. 

In his spot, Stiller made a brief appearance as Derek Zoolander — a cultural phenomenon from the 2001 comedy. 

Now, Zoolander gets his time in the spotlight and takes his talents to the small screen as Pepsi’s latest spokesmodel, in the latest 30-second commercial released on Thursday (March 2). As an extension of the campaign, the commercial and a 15-second cut-down features Zoolander in all his Blue Steel glory. 

Following a similar premise from Pepsi’s Super Bowl spots, Zoolander takes a drink of Pepsi Zero Sugar and claims it is “really, really ridiculously good tasting,” before asking viewers if he was just modeling-slash-acting. 

There’s only one way to know.

A large part of Zoolander’s initial popularity and staying power is the sheer silliness of every scene, which Pepsi leans into the ad. Fans of the original movie may remember the fake ad in which Zoolander poured Diet Coke over his head, now reimagined in this spot with Pepsi Zero Sugar. 

Plus there’s the name of the product itself, which Zoolander laughably mispronounces twice and is corrected by a voice somewhere in the studio. 

Both the 30-second and 15-second versions of the commercial are set to air through July 2023. This latest spot is part of Pepsi’s year long campaign focused on the Pepsi Zero Sugar product.