10 Video Games With Shameless Product Placement

7. Coke Wins/Pepsi Invaders - Coca-Cola

92029 Zool 2 (World) 4
Coca-Cola

In their bid to shoot down rivals Pepsi, Coca Cola rather shot themselves in the foot instead with this bizarre anti-advertisement.

Originally only available to attendees of the 1983 Coca-Cola sales convention (oh you had to be there), Pepsi Invaders tasked players with defending the noble carbonated drinks manufacturer from the encroaching Pepsi army. It's Space Invaders, basically, except the aliens are now nefarious letters spelling out the name of a soft drink (it was even adapted by Atari from the Taito original).

There's just one problem: anyone who has ever played Space Invaders will know that eventually, there's no escape. No matter how valiantly you defend your portion of the screen, the rapidly descending aliens will finally overcome you. In Coca-Cola's game, Pepsi would win. Every time. Smart.

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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.