Diet Pepsi had Addison Rae do the best rebranding

“Music is not important – art is important”

Something has changed. A touch of icon is in the air. I didn't reach for a can of Diet Coke at the corner store. Instead I bought Diet Pepsi. A completely baffling choice for anyone unfamiliar with the lore, when not only is Diet Coke infinitely tastier than Diet Pepsi, but the even better Pepsi Max is right next to it. Nevertheless, Diet Pepsi was purchased. For the mood. For the plot. Because this month belongs to Addison Rae and I must honor her in every way possible. When I press play on Diet Pepsi, I have to queue it three times. How did we get here? How did one of the most derided characters of pop culture's post-pandemic era transform from a total laughing stock to the coolest It girl you want everyone to know you're listening to? Here's a deep dive into pop's most admirable and impactful rebranding – the rebirth of Addison Rae and the endless appeal of Diet Pepsi.

Nobody saw this coming

My first encounter with Addison Rae was probably around 2021. She started her TikTok account in 2019 and quickly amassed a million followers that same year – albeit in an online world that completely ignores me. My FYP is generally not full of sassy young Americans doing TikTok dances. She was clearly huge. Addison Rae Easterling has an accessible beauty, a girl-next-door with all-American charm — but early in her career, it was frightening. She was in the hype house, dying to be famous, get noticed, and become a big star. But she couldn't convert her TikTok platform into anything more than desperate side quests that always seemed fake and tongue-in-cheek.

Show up at the Kardashians! He does it all! Doing Terrible TikTok Dances on Fallon! Everyone was upset when she was invited to the Met Gala! When Addison Rae released her debut single, “Obsessed,” she was already dead. No one could have ever expected how much the transition would change everything.

We all have Charli XCX to thank

You know when a movie or TV show features a pop star who is fictional, and that movie or TV show wants you to hate the accompanying music as “trashy pop”? And then a lot of gays are ironically/unironically obsessed with it and the movie or TV show has to release it on Spotify? Well, after Obsessed's flop, a slew of Addison Rae leaks hit SoundCloud and garnered underground acclaim. It suddenly became cool to stumble upon these random demos, and Addison Rae's music became camp. Ironically great, but self-aware, nostalgic and Y2K – a knowing level of vapidity. When Addison Rae was ridiculed for Obsessed's lyrical content, she embraced it.

And then comes Charli. Charli XCX once said something very profound. “Music is not important. is art. Not all artists are artistically talented. A musician creates a song, but an artist creates a whole world. To me, a great artist is more than just the song – it's the entire culture and space they inhabit. Music alone cannot create a world. The artist creates the world.”

When assessing how Addison Rae managed her rebrand to Diet Pepsi, she doesn't just credit Charli When Addison released the EP AR last year, her approach to her music was knowing and camp. Charli's contribution to the ridiculously written “2 Die 4” gave it credibility. When Addison let out her instantly viral scream on this year's Von Dutch remix, she found herself in a cool universe created by Charli and respected as such.

The Charli association gave Addison Rae and her rebranding as Diet Pepsi the foundation she needed to be taken seriously. Not that she didn't have what it took to get by without Charli like that, but it was an instant refreshment.

Sits on his lap and sips Diet Pepsi

I don't think even Addison Rae could have predicted that her full-fledged rebirth with Diet Pepsi would become a true organic smash hit single. With almost 100 million streams, it is about to enter the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and has reached a new high on the Billboard 100. Diet Pepsi has been falling in August and is hitting new highs every week. How did Addison Rae pull off this rebrand? Because with Diet Pepsi, she's shed the eye-rolling persona by building a world, as Charli XCX put it – that's what makes a great artist. Working with Charli XCX and embracing and adopting Lana Del Rey's aesthetic has made her believable. Heck, Camila Cabello covered it on the Live Lounge for BBC and said she wished Diet Pepsi was on her own album. The arrival of one of pop's most important girls if you've ever seen one.

Addison Rae did what most content creators like JoJo Siwa and the D'Amelios couldn't – go from viral videos to respected success. She knows her abilities and knows what she has and doesn't have. What she has is charisma, an open ear for the ground and a love of pop culture. While it may seem that her music borrows from great artists, it is her own joyful personality that makes her so engaging. You get the feeling that she was just born to be a superstar, that she loves the cameras and loves being famous. It's the diva personified.

When Addison Rae posted a picture of her breasts with two cans of Diet Pepsi over them, simply captioned, “I love Lana,” it was the perfect Easter egg. It's the drink of the year and the song of the decade. Long live a mockery that has become a legend.

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Image by Addison Rae From: Crash/imageSPACE/Shutterstock