The most famous fingernails in college football meet the omnipresent advertiser in the sport: USC quarterback Caleb Williams and his nail jobs are joining Dr Pepper’s “Fansville” this season.
The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and presumptive ’24 NFL No. 1 draft pick is earning the now traditional name, image and likeness windfall for a star quarterback by appearing in the Texas-based soft drink’s clever series of commercials. Williams follows DJ Uiagalelei in ’21 and Bryce Young in ’22 to “Fansville,” but brings his own trademark to the marketing campaign: his fingernails, as painted maroon and white by his mother, Dayna Price, a nail technician.
Williams says incorporating his mom’s work into the commercial franchise was Dr Pepper’s idea, which the family embraced.
“I did have fun; it was a very cool kind of event for me,” Williams says. “Not only for me, but to be able to bring my mom into the equation. It’s something you watch as a child—Dr Pepper, ‘Fansville.’ You watch it and enjoy it, and I never thought I would be on this. Now to be on this is really cool.”
Photo courtesy of Dr Pepper
Williams described his acting skills as “pretty good,” but declined to declare whether he’s a better performer in the college football satire skits than Uiagalelei or Young. He should be wary of a potential trending “Fansville” jinx, though: Uiagalelei struggled during the season when he was in the commercials, with Clemson posting its worst record in seven years; Young played well last year for Alabama, but the Crimson Tide lost twice in the regular season, just the second time that’s happened since 2010. USC starts the season No. 6 in both major polls and is considered a prime College Football Playoff contender, but also must deal with a loaded Pac-12 Conference.
Williams’s tradition of having his nails painted before every game predates arriving in college and came about via his mom, who Williams says has done nail art since before he was born. Some of the cuticle-based messages during his Heisman-winning season were f-bombs directed at the opponent of the day, which garnered Williams another level of fan and media curiosity beyond his abundant football talent.
The messaging will be more product-related and less controversial on “Fansville.” But during the season, who knows?
“To be honest, it’s something I’ve always done,” Williams says. “I’m not going to change; I’m going to keep doing it because I like it. Keep rolling.”
How far Williams and the Trojans roll this year could be more dependent on the team’s defense than its offense. USC allowed 29.2 points and 424 yards per game in 2022, ranking 93rd and 106th nationally in those respective categories. Alex Grinch’s defensive unit was particularly vulnerable against physical running attacks, giving up 4.98 yards per carry and being gouged for 528 rushing yards in two season-ending losses to Utah and Tulane.
Toward that end, USC brought in multiple defensive linemen via the transfer portal who could make an immediate impact. Led by Williams, the Trojans’ offense should once again be among the best in the nation.
“My expectation is to go in and win every game we can, go 1–0 each week,” Williams says. “We got a lot of firepower on the offensive side and the defensive side.”
In addition to winning games, Williams is attempting to do the near-impossible: Become a repeat Heisman winner. It’s happened only once in the trophy’s 88-year history, when Ohio State running back Archie Griffin did it in 1974 and ’75. Williams would seem to be an ideal candidate to defy that historical precedent, but unpredictable things tend to happen.
“I think every year they try to choose the best player, but they want to add people to the fraternity,” Williams theorizes. “A lot of players might not play at the same level they played the year before, or another player might just have played flat-out better than them. You have a fair shot to go out there and do your thing, play better than you did last year. You have the same shot as anybody else, but you just have to go out there and do it.”
In addition to his own financial windfall from the commercials, the Dr Pepper partnership will result in exposure and resources for Williams’s foundation, Caleb Cares. Williams’s stated goal for his foundation is to stop bullying, empower young people and increase awareness of mental health challenges for young people. A Dr Pepper release says the company “will partner with Caleb Cares through an activation that will be announced later this fall.”
And as part of the partnership with Williams, Dr Pepper is making a “Fanicures” nail kit available for purchase on DrPepperStore.com, starting Aug. 30. Per the Dr Pepper release, the Williams nail kit “gives fans what they need to express their fandom on all ten digits and includes two bottles of nail polish in Dr Pepper’s signature maroon and white, as well as a variety of college football inspired nail décor.”
You may not be able to play football like Caleb Williams, but you can have nail art like him soon.
