Celebrity Name: Scottie Pippen
Brand Name: Mr. Pibb (The Coca-Cola Company)
Deal Type: Brand Ambassador / Campaign Spokesperson
Announced: March 20, 2026
Impact: Positions Mr. Pibb as a defiant challenger brand while giving Pippen a new platform to comment, indirectly, on his long-running “second-best” narrative next to Michael Jordan
- Scottie Pippen headlines Mr. Pibb’s new “Mr. Pipp” campaign, celebrating the brand’s challenger spirit as the revamped soda rolls out nationally.
- The 30-second documentary-style ad leans directly into Pippen’s well-known role as runner-up to Michael Jordan, blurring the line between soda rivalry and basketball history.
- The campaign was created by Majority and WPP Open X, directed by Amir Farhang, and debuted during the March Madness broadcast on March 21st, extending across digital and social channels.
- Mr. Pibb’s relaunch includes a refreshed formula with higher caffeine, two new flavors, Punchin’ Peach and Thrillin’ Vanilla, and expansion into new retail markets across the U.S.
Scottie Pippen is done playing second fiddle, and so is Mr. Pibb. The six-time NBA champion has teamed up with The Coca-Cola Company for a bold new campaign that’s turning heads across sports and pop culture alike.
The mockumentary-style campaign, titled “Mr. Pipp,” debuted during the March Madness broadcast on March 21 and extends across digital and social channels.
In the film, Pippen is seated in a setting strikingly similar to the one Michael Jordan used in The Last Dance, with a can and glass of Mr. Pibb beside him.
Pippen declares: “When something has been considered second-best for so long, we just blindly accept it as gospel. A decade-long plot built on marketing, social media and multi-part documentaries. Yeah, I said it. Pipp is the GOAT.” A background narrator gently corrects him, it’s Pibb, and Pippen shrugs it off entirely.
The film features Pippen dialoguing with a can of Mr. Pibb, voiced by prominent media personality and podcast host Van Lathan. The campaign was built by agency Majority, whose founder Omid Farhang called Mr. Pibb “the sardonic voice of the slept on.”
Just as Pippen made NBA history alongside Jordan, earning his jersey retirement with the Chicago Bulls and a Basketball Hall of Fame induction in 2010, Mr. Pibb is expanding its lineup with new regional flavors and a revamped, higher-caffeine formula, backed by a nationwide retail rollout. Just like Pippen himself, it seems Mr. Pibb is done being underestimated.
Similar athlete-brand crossover plays have generated serious buzz recently: LeBron James linked up with Mercedes-Benz for a custom Maybach project and Metta World Peace and Ronaldinho starred in Hard Rock Bet’s “So Metta” campaign.
Takeaways
This campaign is clever on multiple levels. Mr. Pibb isn’t just selling soda, it’s selling a feeling: the chip on the shoulder of anyone who’s ever been dismissed, overlooked, or declared second best. By casting Pippen, Coca-Cola found a spokesperson whose entire post-basketball life is the brand story.
The fact that it aired during March Madness, a tournament literally built on underdogs, makes the timing almost too perfect. And Pippen’s willingness to lean into the Jordan dynamic rather than run from it? That’s a man who has fully owned his narrative.
Does this campaign make you see Pippen differently as someone reclaiming his story, or still living in Jordan’s shadow? Can Mr. Pibb’s underdog marketing actually challenge Dr. Pepper’s dominant market position?
