THE INSPIRATION

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The concept was concocted by Kelly Smith, Mallis’ longtime friend and creative director, to place Mallis in a fake Diet Pepsi commercial to ultimately ruse people he’s a company influencer. Although Smith passed away five years ago, Mallis still honors their friendship by incorporating elements of product placement into his Instagram and daily life. 

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"I thought it was hilarious because it was like a good tag to you know, get people to maybe hear the music and like kind of be like funny and weird," Mallis said. 

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When Mallis begins to play shows again, he said he wants to implement some of Smith's inspiration into the performance. Some of his ideas included pulling out a Diet Coke bottle between songs to talk about it or throwing bottles of soda into the crowd.

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