‘Pepsi Dig In Day’ uplifts Black-owned restaurants

Pepsi Dig In Day, which falls on November 5, is a call-to-action encouraging consumers to eat at Black-owned restaurants. This year’s Pepsi Dig In Day will leverage influencers including Top Chef star Carla Hall and award-winning chef Chef Joseph “JJ” Johnson to spread consumer awareness. “Carla will be our lead partner,” said Scott Finlow, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Foodservice. “She’s super credible, she’s a fierce advocate for this industry [and] she brings a ton of energy and passion.”

On November 5, PepsiCo will host 20 different brunches in select restaurants in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston and others. At the same time, consumers will also have the chance to win $5,000 for themselves and a $5,000 donation for their favorite Black-owned restaurant by posting a photo of the restaurant and tagging @PepsiDigIn, #DigInShowLove and #sweepstakes.

Concepted two years ago, Pepsi Dig In is a $50m program designed to equip Black local restaurants and their chefs with the resources and funding they need to overcome existent inequities. The national program has previously assisted Atlanta-based Slutty Vegan and Harlem-based rice bowl shop FieldTrip, and committed to expanding the database of EatOkra, a mobile directory for discovering Black-owned restaurants.

“Our intent is to be the best partner for these restaurants in the industry – full stop,” continued Finlow. “We want to help, we want to have an impact [and] we believe that by doing that more of these local restaurants will [want] to work with PepsiCo.”

Walton Isaacson handled the creative. Additional campaign content will be disseminated across digital and social media.

Pepsi Dig In’s corporate partners – including the National Football League, the National Hockey League and TripAdvisor – will show solidarity by offering a sponsored lunch from Black-owned restaurants for their employees between October 31 and November 4.

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