The NFL is going full Gladiator for an upcoming Pepsi commercial, it seems.
Per Sports Business Journal, and relayed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson are all in Canada filming the ad. Same goes for new Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry.
Interestingly, it all seems part of Pepsi's promotional agreement with Gladiator II, due out sometime around the start of the NFL season.
"So Pepsi is getting paid to push the sequel to Gladiator, and various NFL players are getting paid to push Pepsi as gladiators, Florio wrote.
Needless to say, the budget for the new flick is reportedly massive. No shock there.
But hey, it's not like Pepsi is hurting for cash to fund things as it sees fit. Sort of like the NFL.
"This would hardly be the first big ad that Pepsi has done with a Gladiator theme, wrote Tzvi Machlin of The Spun. "Back in 2003, the beverage company produced an ad for the United Kingdom that featured Beyonce, Pink and Britney Spears. So if any company is equipped to do a commercial in the theme of the movie, it's Pepsi.
"The budget for Gladiator II is believed to be upwards of $250-300 million. That money's got to come from somewhere..."
Yep, exactly. How much the likes of Allen, Kelce, Jefferson and Henry are getting paid for the commercial won't be revealed, but you can be sure it's a lot — and again, amounts to pennies for a company such as Pepsi. That's a big win for everyone, the NFL included.
