Behind the Scenes: PEPSI’s “Thirsty for More” XR Campaign

Together with a brand development agency, I created an immersive XR experience in Casablanca for PEPSI’s “Thirsty for More” social campaign. The goal was simple to say and hard to do: make people stop scrolling and step inside the brand.

The Brief

PEPSI wanted a campaign that felt local, energetic and impossible to ignore. Instead of another static visual, the agency and I designed a world people could explore through their phones.

Building the Experience

The project came together in three main layers, each with its own creative and technical challenges.

1. Hero product: A photoreal PEPSI can, modeled and textured to hold up in extreme close-ups.

2. Real-time world: Environments and effects optimized to run smoothly on everyday phones.

3. Social-first motion: Short, punchy animations designed for vertical feeds.

Balancing Quality and Performance

Real-time work is always a negotiation. Every texture and polygon had to earn its place, so the experience could stay crisp without draining batteries.

The Result

The campaign turned a familiar product into something people wanted to play with and share.

For me it confirmed what I love about XR: when the audience becomes part of the scene, the story gets bigger than the screen.

More case studies from my AR and real-time work are coming soon.