Remember back in the early 00s when TV adverts were a big deal, not only at Christmas but all year around? Back when Pepsi were at the top of their game, recruited the hottest stars of the moment and managed to avoid co-opting hugely important social movements for profit, things were good. Everyone from Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and the Spice Girls took a turn to endorse their version of cola, but no one did it quite like Britney Spears.
Britney starred in at least three Pepsi adds, twice solo and once with Beyoncé, Pink and Enrique Iglesias (I know, what a line up), but her two solo commercials, if you remember, were as quintessentially noughties as pop music has ever been. I’m talking pop at its purest. The ads were basically condensed Britney music videos with the most excessive product placement known to man and they were pretty damn iconic. Let me show you…
Britney Spears’ Now and Then Pepsi advert
Pepsi is for those who think young, apparently. In this delightfully awful advert we’re taken through five decades of the Pepsi generation and boy do they know how to have good wholesome fun. If you ever had any doubt about how brilliantly bubblegum Britney originally was, here’s your proof. Nothing like a wink to seal the worldwide sales of Pepsi-cola.
Britney Spears’ Joy of Pepsi advert
And here we have ‘Joy of Pepsi, the advert which contains almost too many nostalgic musical reference points to count. We’ve got the classic Britney ‘mmm yeah’ which we were first introduced to in the intro to ‘Oops!...I Did It Again’. Then there are the awkward N’Sync ‘Bye Bye Bye’ references (She definitely doesn’t say ‘bye’ when she’s doing her cool little head nod thing but it sounds like Bye and you know, Justin Timberlake and all that). We’ve got the aggressive body flouncing, knee-jerking and invisible towel tossing that we came to define Britney dance routines by and of course an emotional period of slow-mo period just before a dramatic key change.
What you may not have known though, is that these one minute and thirty-second jingles were actually full legit songs. Kind of. In reality, there are slightly longer versions that have just been made available but the most important thing is that there are two Britney Spears songs from the early 2000s that you don’t know all the words to yet.
The full-length/original versions have been popped on to YouTube for you to enjoy in all of their high-quality glory and while they’re not all that different, there are precious Britney seconds to enjoy and at the very least play a game of spot the difference.
Britney Spears’ Now And Then Pepsi advert – extended version
No super cool dance moves to replicate in this one sorry, just a slightly different version of the song to listen to. In what definitely could have found a spot on Britney’s self-titled 2001 album, we’re treated to a jazzier (and seemingly heavier auto-tune) when Brit sings us through the 60s followed by a slowed down step and clap break. Apologies in advance for this song now being stuck in your head and quite possibly ruin your day.
Britney Spears’ Joy Of Pepsi – full version
The bonus addition here is a whole extra chorus for you to nod along to at home. If you close your eyes you can imagine this being an MTV Music Awards performance that Britney opens before being joined on stage by the N’Sync boys a minute in when she starts singing about the world going around ‘but some things never change’.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.