Pepsi Parodies 'Arrival' in Sci-Fi Golden Globes Ad

Pepsi aired a cinematic homage to 2016's 'Arrival' during NBC's showing of the Golden Globes last night.

Starring William H. Macy of Shameless and Fargo, 'The Encounter' sees a ship descend to Earth from outer space with mysterious symbols orbiting it. Macy's role is that of a savvy janitor who's first to figure out the meaning behind the orbiting symbols. It was created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners. 

The spot won't be shown on TV again, but is available for viewers to find online, with the brand believing the film is strong enough to live as a standalone piece of content. Todd Kaplan, vice president of marketing at Pepsi, told Variety: "These days, entertainment can come in any form or any format. Entertainment is short-form, long-form, online, on your phone, on air. And so we can’t think of it as a linear TV spot. You definitely don’t want to be in a situation where it feels like you’re interrupting something. You want to create entertainment and something people want to look for and lean into. We built a great piece of content that stands on its own."