The Gladiator-themed spot also features Josh Allen and Travis Kelce and helps to kick off the 2024-25 NFL season
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Few things get Megan Thee Stallion as excited as making music and performing for her fans, but the Grammy-winning rapper is ready to move on from “Hot Girl Summer” to ring in “Football Fall.”
Hot off the heels of her sold-out summer tour, Megan is taking on a (literal) new arena as the face — and voice — of Pepsi‘s latest commercial, which launches today to help kick off the new NFL season. Titled “Make Your Gameday Epic,” the Gladiator-themed spot features “Empress Megan” as she oversees an epic battle in the coliseum between NFL stars Josh Allen, Derrick Henry, Justin Jefferson and Travis Kelce.
The new Pepsi spot was inspired by the beverage brand’s iconic “Roman Empire” commercial from 2004, which famously starred Britney Spears, Beyonce and Pink. For Megan, the chance to work on a production of this scale was a dream come true. “Everybody knows about that commercial, with three very iconic women,” she tells Rolling Stone. “So for me to have my own ‘hot girl’ version of that? I’m proud.”
Adds the rapper-turned-soda spokesperson: “I feel like when you get a Pepsi commercial, you know you really made it.”
In addition to starring in the commercial, Megan adds a new rap verse to Queen’s iconic song, “We Will Rock You,” which is sampled in the campaign. The remixed track — produced by Bankroll Got It — is out now on all streaming platforms, and offers motivational lyrics about fending off “haters” and taking down the competition. While the song soundtracks scenes of Kelce, Allen and the NFL stars batting it out in the ring, Megan says she wrote it for anyone needing a little extra motivation. “It’s definitely a go-to gym song for me,” she says, offering an example. “You’re gonna be on that stairmaster going crazy.”
The new Pepsi commercial will be seen on national television before and during tonight’s NFL kickoff game between Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, and will also air during Megan’s hosting gig at the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards. The self-professed football fan says she’s usually a “stay at home and watch on TV-type of fan,” but she’s hoping to make it out to a few games this year, especially after meeting the players on set. As for who she’s cheering for: “I’m ridin’ with my Texans all the time,” the Houston native says.
Of course, few things are bigger than a Pepsi commercial, though there is one event that could top this experience: would Megan ever do the Super Bowl Halftime Show?
“Oh my god, definitely,” the rapper says. “Like the day that they ask me to do the Halftime Show, y’all are not going to see me for at least two months because I’m going to be in serious hottie bootcamp preparation.”
“We’re going to speak that into existence,” she says. “Write that down. We mean it.”
