Copyright: margouillat / 123RF Stock Photo
Copyright: margouillat / 123RF Stock Photo

I stumbled upon this story at the Wall Street Journal’s CMO Today blog. Arby’s has an exclusive deal with Pepsi. As part of Arby’s contract with Pepsi, it is required to feature Pepsi in two television advertisements a year. Well, the calendar says it is December and, it turns out, Arby’s has run only one advertisement featuring Pepsi this year. And, having a good calendaring system, Pepsi reminded Arby’s of the requirement.

So, what is a good partner who doesn’t want to breach a contract and/or upset its carefully planned holiday advertising to do? Perhaps the answer will surprise you:  Arby’s had its adverstising agency create a commercial that features . . . wait for it . . . Pepsi! And only Pepsi. That’s right, with the wonderful voice over of Ving Rhames, Arby’s explains that it simply forget about the contract requirement and asks for forgiveness.  The advertisement, which can be seen on YouTube in its entirety, finishes with the tagline: “Arby’s. We have Pepsi.”

Both Arby’s and Pepsi love the commercial. And, while it does mean Arby’s will be adding a new commercial to the carefully planned mix of those already planned for the end of the year, for Arby’s, it continues a trend this year of unconventional advertising. For example, Arby’s also created this 13 hour commercial of brisket smoking, demonstrating that its smoked meat is real.

I thought I’d mention this commercial on this blog because it demonstrates that there are often many ways to resolve a contract dispute. Arby’s was particularly up-front and honest about this situation and found a way to solve the contract dilemma, please its partner, continue to post some unconventional but memorable advertising, and get a lot of earned media in the process. Especially when it comes to working with partners, finding ways to solve disputes short of litigation–even in cases where it looks like the facts are one-sided–with humor and grace can often be the better long-term option.