With a long history as one of the major celebrity endorsers, Michael Jackson is returning as the spokesman for Pepsi, three years after his death. The Michael Jackson Estate has teamed up once again with the popular soda brand for a campaign to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s platinum-selling 1987 album, BAD.
As part of the “Life For Now” campaign, Pepsi is honoring The King of Pop’s iconic album with a special release of a billion commemorative cans around the world featuring a silhouette of Jackson, plus releasing new mixes of his music
and organizing live events for fans to celebrate the classic hits from BAD in a brand new way.The global campaign will feature the iconic silhouette of Jackson’s pose from his 1984 “The Chase” Pepsi commercial.
“Michael did three successive deals with Pepsi, on the Victory Tour, the Bad Tour and the Dangerous Tour, so this extends a long and very successful relationship with the brand,” The MJ Estate said in a statement. “Michael would have loved that we are making the record books with his image on a billion cans around the world. And the campaign will be a great kickoff to the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of BAD.”
Jackson has had a running history with Pepsi by appearing in several commercials during his career, including the “Chase” spots.
The new campaign will launch in the U.S. later in May with the release of limited edition 16-ounce King of Pop cans that will also be paired with a way for fans to get remixes off the BAD album.
- Brit Brickle, 94.7 The Wave
http://b1063fm.radio.com/2012/05/05/michael-jackson-returns-to-pepsi/
Sounds intriguing...I wonder where and when..???
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PEPSI TO LAUNCH MICHAEL JACKSON MARKETING CAMPAIGN
May 04, 2012 (Los Angeles Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Michael Jackson is dead, but PepsiCo Inc. still plans to use his image to sell its soda.
The beverage brand, which has struggled to eclipse rival Coca Cola Co., is pairing with Sony Music and Jackson's estate to roll out an exclusive campaign pegged to the 25th anniversary of the performer's multi-platinum "Bad" album and tour.
One billion soda cans featuring Jackson's image will be sold around the world, Pepsi said. China will get the first batch, launching Saturday. Later this month, special-edition 16-ounce cans will be available in the U.S., followed by rollouts in other parts of Asia, South America and Europe.
The Pepsi campaign will also feature merchandise, such as jackets inspired by the original "Bad" tour, new mixes of music from the album and chances to win tickets to performances of Cirque du Soleil's "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour" show.
The singer, who died in 2009, had a long history with Pepsi. He first starred in an ad campaign for the company with his brothers in 1983. The next year, while on set filming a Pepsi commercial, Jackson was severely burned in a pyrotechnics accident.
Last month, Pepsi announced the launch of a massive global branding campaign that it's calling "Live for Now." The first round of ads, featuring pop celebrity Nicki Minaj, will start appearing Monday.
The company, which also owns brands such as Tropicana, Gatorade and Frito-Lay, said this year that it would lay off 8,700 employees through 2014. Beverage sales in the key North American market have been sliding.
Pepsi also said it plans to boost its advertising and marketing budget by as much as $600 million this year.
The company's stock price has never managed to recoup its high from when Chief Executive Indra Nooyi first took leadership in 2007.
tiffany.hsu@latimes.com
http://www.zacks.com/research/get_news.php?id=125d8543
That's a lot of money! (even across a dozen products) (and a lot of employees to lay off)
