When the Pill People first debuted in an ad campaign a decade ago, Beats by Dre had a surprise hit on its hands.
Fan love was so strong that the brand revived the anthropomorphic spokescharacters last year, coinciding with the return of the re-engineered portable Pill speaker.
The mascots—three wise-cracking roomies played by actor-comedians Ben Marshall, Megan Stalter, and Desi Banks—are now expanding their found family with a pair of famous athletes, representing two new colors, in two 15-second spots.
WNBA star Angel Reese provides the voice for the Blush Pink Pill, while former Formula 1 champ Daniel Ricciardo brings the Navy Blue Pill to life. Both were already embedded in the high-profile Beats endorser stable.
The new Pill People characters, developed with CGI, come from agency Buck, which has been shepherding the campaign since 2024. The ongoing goal has been to infuse personality into characters that are walking, talking pieces of technology with speakers for heads, according to Fernando Bittar, Buck’s creative director.
“The idea was to make the spots feel like live action,” Bittar told ADWEEK, “with characters that are relatable and tactile.”
Beats has dubbed the upcoming season “the summer of speakers,” according to CMO Chris Thorne, noting the importance of the warm-weather months for sales of the go-anywhere product. The addition of Reese and Ricciardo “brings the perfect mix of attitude and humor that made Pill People iconic in the first place.”
Mascot moment
The campaign drops as mascots are having a marketing moment. Some brands are leaning into, and sometimes unearthing, classic characters, a la McDonald’s and Grimace, while others are creating original mascots as a way to engage and entertain consumers.
Instacart, for its Super Bowl 59 ad from TBWA\Chiat\Day, assembled an entire cast of iconic characters, including the Kool-Aid Man, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Old Spice’s The Man Your Man Can Smell Like, and Mountain Dew’s PuppyMonkeyBaby.
