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NBA star Kyrie Irving goes undercover in new Pepsi MAX video

Friday, May 18, 2012

This story ran in PEPline, PepsiCo’s global employee newsletter, and is proudly brought to you by a PepsiCo employee or a friend or family member of a PepsiCo employee.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving this week was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year, but a new video from Pepsi MAX envisions him long past his early days on the basketball court.

The video, showcasing Kyrie as his elderly alter ego, Uncle Drew, is part of Kyrie’s partnership with Pepsi MAX, which also includes social media engagement, local retail programs in the Cleveland market, and limited edition gear. View “Uncle Drew” on YouTube.

In the video, 78-year-old “Uncle Drew” enters a pick-up basketball game on the streets of New Jersey, and the players assume they will practically have to help him down the court. But little do they know, with the help of Pepsi MAX, Uncle Drew is really 20-year-old basketball star Kyrie Irving in disguise and the game takes an unexpected twist.

“When you’re working with someone as charismatic as Kyrie, you know he’s up for any challenge,” said Sam Duboff, Pepsi MAX brand team. “While Kyrie was sitting in the makeup chair for four hours, he developed Uncle Drew’s voice and entire backstory -- where he went to school, what jobs he held, how many grandkids he had. We knew we were about to capture something special.”

Follow the conversation on Twitter using #UncleDrew.