Pepsi versus Coke ads. What can we learn from them?

I was sent this Pepsi ad by someone I work with, as they felt it not only charming but an engaging way of doing comparative advertising.

One thing that has always struck me about Pepsi is that they have been so consistent over the years. They have found new and interesting ways of expressing the idea that people prefer the taste of Pepsi over Coke. It started with the blind taste test ads and have evolved over the years.

Generally comparative advertising can be fairly crude and too often ends up brand or claim bashing. But I am a big believer in the importance of the words ONLY or UNLIKE in a copy strategy. Ensuring you say UNLIKE (others), we do X... or ONLY we do Z. Having an enemy is a powerful way to sharpen your benefit and your story. Even if the enemy is an existing habit or practice.

It forces you to challenge what you are really offering the consumer or customer.
It may not mean you have to run comparative ads as such, but it sure sends your adrenaline and that of the agency up a notch. We are inherently competitive as a species, and we are hunters and so why not always make sure there is an enemy in your strategy to chase or beat?