Pepsi Refresh
Project.
Pepsi / Huge
The Challenge
In 2010, Pepsi made a genuinely unusual decision: they pulled their Super Bowl advertising budget — $20 million — and redirected it toward funding good ideas from ordinary people. No 30-second spots. No celebrities holding cans. Just a platform that let anyone submit an idea to improve their community, and let the public vote on which ones deserved a grant.
The concept was bold. The execution lived entirely online. And someone had to be the first writer to put the whole thing into words — to make a pro-social grants platform feel as accessible, optimistic, and energizing as the idea behind it.
That was me.
My Role
- First writer on the platform
- UX & interface copy
- Campaign copy
- Platform voice & tone
Agency
- Huge
Recognition
- IxDA Interaction Award
- Best in Category: Connecting
- Cannes Lions
The Bet
Pepsi's wager was that doing real, measurable good in communities was better marketing than a Super Bowl ad. It was a provocative hypothesis in 2010 — and the platform had to make the argument implicitly, through every interaction, without ever sounding like a brand trying to take credit for generosity.
That's a specific tonal challenge. The copy had to be warm without being saccharine, civic without being preachy, and distinctly Pepsi without letting the brand overshadow the people and ideas it was supposed to be celebrating. The moment it felt like advertising, the whole premise collapsed.
"$20 million. 1,000 funded ideas. 87 million votes cast. Pepsi jumped from #16 to #5 among America's most reputable brands."IxDA Best in Category, Connecting — 2012
The Platform
RefreshEverything.com was a full community platform: submit an idea, promote it, vote for others, track results, read stories about funded projects already underway. Every surface needed writing — submission flows, voting prompts, idea pages, community discussion, email campaigns, social integration, mobile apps.
The writing challenge across all of it was consistency of voice under highly varied conditions. A prompt encouraging someone to submit their first idea needed different energy than a confirmation email after a grant was awarded. A voting interface needed to feel lightweight and fun; a funded project story needed to feel real and specific. Same brand, same platform, very different jobs.
The Result
The Pepsi Refresh Project funded more than 1,000 ideas in its first year alone — 108 schools, 68 parks and playgrounds, 20 children's homes and shelters. More than 87 million votes were cast. Pepsi's brand favorability, trust, and purchase intent among millennials all improved significantly through direct interaction with the platform.
A Forbes/Reputation Institute study found Pepsi had jumped from #16 to #5 among America's most reputable brands. The project won a Cannes Lions and an IxDA Interaction Award for Best in Category.
Which suggested the bet had paid off. Turns out people respond well to a brand that actually does something, if the thing it does is real — and if the writing makes them feel like participants rather than an audience.