“Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara’s acting career all began with a Pepsi ad when she was just 17 years old, so it makes sense that they’d come back to her once she became a household name. Her returning ad with David Beckham was such a success, we were tapped the following year to work on a second spot.

About the Ad

Diet Pepsi wanted the ad to “show the great lengths our star will go to get a refreshing Diet Pepsi” to bring their message to light “in a fun, uplifting way,” as Senior Director of Pepsi Beverages Corporation Amy Wirtanen put it. Sofia whirls and twirls with various suitors through a ritzy night club in a stunning blue dress. In the end, the drink server presumes she’s flirting, but she’s got eyes only for the last Diet Pepsi on the tray.

It’s a funny little spot set to “Whatever Lola Wants” sung by Rod Stewart’s daughter Ruby, directed by renowned music director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol (“McG”), and choreographed by Mark Ballas of “Dancing with the Stars.”

After premiering in the first slot during the 69th annual Golden Globe awards show on January 15, 2012, the popular commercial would go air nationwide 180 times, not to mention picking up hundreds of thousands of additional views on YouTube.

What We Did

We were very excited to bring a little bit of “Hollywood” to South Beach with this project. Every prop and backdrop you see were outfitted by the Movie Prop Rentals crew – from the modern-looking lamps in the opening sequence to the tray carrying the Diet Pepsi in the end.

For the opening scene, we brought five of our best lamps along with a silver couch and custom-fabricated stunning crystal curtain to add to the VIP lounge vibe. The setting we worked in was already dazzling, but our team added brilliant lights wherever we could – to stairs, curtains, and DJ booths – to glam up the scene to the extreme.

Insider’s Perspective

“Who wouldn’t love to work at Fontainebleau Miami Hotel’s legendary Club Liv? It’s one of the top five clubs in the world!” says Jerry Blohm, one of the leading art directors at Movie Prop Rentals who worked on this particular project. “We used thousands of Swarovski crystals to decorate the set to get the Hollywood look the client desired.”

Point-man Graylan Franklan adds: “We’ve worked on Hollywood productions. We may be from Miami, but we’re no strangers to L.A. No matter what aesthetic you’re looking for, one thing you’ll find in working with us is that we don’t half anything. We’re all in and we go the extra mile to make everything look as amazing as possible.”

Choose Movie Prop Rentals For Video Set Design

Contact Movie Prop Rentals for a free, no-obligation quote on your next project. Video set design is our specialty, with services including prop curation, art direction, set builds, staging, and custom prop fabrication. There’s no need to come to Hollywood to get the look you need. We’ll bring Hollywood to you!

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