In this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend rollout, PepsiCo selected 29-year-old superstar Keke Palmer as the first talent for its recent launch of STARRY™, a re-imagined soda bursting with lemon-lime flavor that has a healthier formula than its previous soft drink line. The brand released a new commercial during the NBA All-Star Weekend STARRY 3-Point Contest featuring Palmer sitting courtside with her besties Lem & Lime as they watch Tyrese Maxey’s game.
The funny clip shows Palmer quenching her thirst at the game with a swig of STARRY. The fresh lemon and lime soda taste leaves her Starry struck when a euphoric Starry Soda Man appears on the basketball court, enchanting Palmer with a kiss.
The commercial ends with Maxey witnessing the kiss from the Jumbovision screen but is left confused once the imaginary soda man disappears.
Palmer spoke with Blavity on how pregnancy has helped her determine future collaborations, who else she’d want to join the Starry team and how she will unplug after the birth of her son.
“I think it does. I think I’ve always tried to be really aware. It though I think everything is mostly good in moderation. Obviously, you want to try nothing that’s illegal–but I do believe that most things are good in moderation,” Palmer said.
“I also believe that it’s all about options and a lot of for me working with companies that do more than just not only make the product but try to do their best in terms of inclusion and diversity. And I definitely think Pepsi aligns with that. And as far as Starry goes, there’s always a zero sugar option as well, which also is great,” she said.
With Palmer being the first selected STARRY talent, she shared Chicago artist Durk would be a great addition to the STARRY team due to his “style and flavor.”
As seen in the commercial, Palmer admitted to being highly enthused with food, as she’s been divulging in almost every tasty treat there is because “the baby wants it.”
“I would say the foods that make me fall in love right now. I think all foods. I’m the kind of pregnant person right now where it’s like anything tasty,” she said. “The excitement that I have around food now is like so much deeper than the excitement I had around food before I was pregnant,” Palmer said.
Palmer has yet to hit pause on her busy career schedule, balancing pregnancy and her multiple productions under KeyTv.
Meta’s Are We There Yet, new movies, and recently being named Hollywood Issues 2023 12 stars Paving the Future — the Nope actress warns fans she may pull a Rihanna once her little one arrives.
“I’m worried for you all, too. No, I’m kidding. No, I think I’ll be honest. As a Virgo, as you know, we love to do stuff. It’s in our DNA to do something; you know what I mean? To be a part of something. We love that. It’s fun, and it’s for individuals, and I think it’s good for my son to see that I have my own identity outside of just being his mom,” Palmer said.
“Having said that, I feel like I’m probably going to be extremely in love. I’m excited to see, because a lot of times, what happens is, the mom will be like, I don’t want to see you all, I just want to be in the house of my baby,” she said.
But until then, Palmer will continue to relish in this season. When asked who she feels is paving the future in her eyes, Palmer named Chloe and Halle Bailey and Queen Naija as some. Although her ear is to the pavement, Palmer also admitted to not being familiar with TikTok food enthusiast Keith Lee — so if we see a collab in the future, it started here.
Outside of work, Palmer reflected on her close family unit with her siblings and parents, sharing the family’s “us against the world” dynamic is what her small family of three will practice as well when it comes to balancing her career and family.
“I feel like I probably will feel that way [wanting to stay home with her son], but also will just feel like it’s us against the world. It’s our family unit and we’re doing all this together because that’s how it was with my family,” Palmer shared.
“When we moved from Chicago to California, I was pursuing my career. It was my mom, my dad, my brother, and my sisters, and we were always together. And so I think that example for me is what I would see for my family, which is that, hey, me and dad are working and doing what we got to do, but we’re going to figure out a way how to always be together,” she added.
You can catch the latest Starry Struck commercial with Keke Palmer and Tyrese Maxey on TV and YouTube now.