While 82,529 Fans Lit Up MetLife Stadium During the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show, Millions More Lit Up Twitter

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Feb. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Pepsi, the official sponsor of the Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show featuring GRAMMY® award winning artist Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, created a bright moment for both fans in stands and tens of millions watching around the world to kick-off tonight's Pepsi Halftime Show.  More than 82,000 fans literally lit up MetLife Stadium to hype the most watched entertainment broadcast of the year, and more than 200 million more took to social media about Pepsi's #Halftime. 

According to Twitter, there were 2.2 million tweets during the 12.5 minute Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show, of which a quarter of tweets were Pepsi #halftime.

Super Bowl advertiser Pepsi placed its in-game, :30 introduction, "Soundcheck NYC,"  just prior to halftime to hint at what was to come to viewers at home before revealing what the more than 82,000 screaming fans in the stands witnessed:  a light show and Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' electrifying performance.  

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140203/NY57326-a )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140203/NY57326-b )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140203/NY57326-c )
(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120424/NY93895LOGO )

Created by Mekanism, the spot is a tribute to New York City with a clever musical twist.  Pepsi is "soundchecking" NYC to get ready for the biggest concert of the year: The Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show. From strumming the Manhattan Bridge, playing the Guggenheim "drums", mixing levels on a NYC subway train board, turn-tabling Columbus Circle, lighting up the Empire State building, highlighting the iconic East River Pepsi-Cola sign, and ending up at MetLife stadium, Pepsi's hometown and Super Bowl host city is transformed into musical instruments which hit a high note for getting fans hyped for the Halftime Show.  View "SoundcheckNYC" here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iISQEwleMuo&feature=youtu.be.

Tonight's "Soundcheck NYC" was the culmination of the brand's month long "Get Hyped for Halftime" campaign. Through paid, owned and earned media, Pepsi expanded its sponsorship and advertising for the Super Bowl for the longest duration in the brand's history and more so than any other Super Bowl 2014 advertiser. From play-offs to postgame, here's what got America most hyped: 

• In a Broadway meets football mash-up, NFL legends Deion Sanders, Terry Bradshaw, Mike Ditka, Shannon Sharpe and more, helped answer the question of, "what if the 56^th Annual GRAMMY Awards had a halftime show?" 28.5 MM tuned in and crowned Pepsi as the most talked about brand, having the number one share of voice among all advertisers and sponsors during the GRAMMY Awards.
• Bringing the spirit of halftime to unexpected places, Pepsi surprised fans in Milligan, Neb., (the halfway point of America) with a concert by Lee Brice on a cold January night jolting the town's population 1700%, from 275 to nearly 5,000.
• Reuniting Super Bowl IV attendees and first-ever celebrity Halftime performer Carol Channing for a "twice in a lifetime" experience.
• Transforming game day at Buffalo Wild Wings into a surprise Pepsi Halftime Show with an original "Feels like Halftime" performance by Foreigner. 
• Pepsi established its halftime heritage with "Pepsi: There Since the First Halftime," created by Motive, aired throughout the NFL Playoffs.
• Other "Get Hyped for Halftime" activities included: delivering surprise halftime experiences via Uber and an interactive vending machine, and the Swedish sensation, The Bottle Boys' interpretation of Bruno Mars' hits.

All Pepsi "Get Hyped for Halftime" videos can be viewed at www.pepsi.com and on http://www.youtube.com/user/Pepsi.

In addition to Mekanism and Motive, Pepsi's "Get Hyped for Halftime" campaign was supported by Scratch, The Barbarian Group, OMD, Weber Shandwick, PMK-BNC, Davie Brown Entertainment, TracyLocke and Track. 

SOURCE PepsiCo