Is this in bad taste? Pepsi brings back Michael Jackson in promotion

NEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo Inc. is going on a reunion tour with The King of Pop.

The
Purchase, N.Y.-based company on Thursday announced its deal with the
estate of Michael Jackson to use the late pop star's image for its new
global marketing push. The nature of the promotion will vary by country,
but will include special edition cans bearing Jackson's image, a TV ad
in some markets and chances to download remixes of some of Jackson's
most famous songs.

Pepsi, which first partnered with Jackson in 1983, did not disclose the terms of its deal with the singer's estate.

The
promotion is part of a global marketing blitz planned for the year
ahead by Pepsi, which is looking to revive its brand and win back market
share from The Coca-Cola Co. Next week, Pepsi is also launching a TV ad
featuring singer Nicki Minaj and announcing details of its partnership
with Twitter to stream concerts online.

The broader "Live For Now"
campaign is intended to amplify the company's longstanding ties with
pop culture, said Brad Jakeman, who oversees the creative strategy for
Pepsi's carbonated drinks around the world.

Pepsi has a lot riding
on its new push. Although the company has a diverse portfolio of brands
including Frito-Lay, Quaker Oats and Tropicana, it's often judged by
the performance of its namesake cola. And in 2010, Pepsi was knocked out
of the No. 2 spot among sodas in the U.S. by Diet Coke, with Coke
remaining in the No. 1 position, according to the industry tracker
Beverage Digest.

Last month, Pepsi also reported that volume in
its key Americas beverages unit slipped by 1 percent in the first three
months of the year.

The Jackson promotion is one aspect of Pepsi's
strategy to reverse that slide. Consumers in the U.S. and China will be
the first to get a taste of the campaign in coming weeks, which is
timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of "Bad," the singer's
multiplatinum album. The campaign will spread to about two dozen
countries by fall.

In the U.S., the company is rolling out
collectible 16-ounce blue cans that bear an image of Jackson striking
one of his iconic poses. Consumers will be able to scan codes on the
cans with their phones to download remixed tracks from "Bad."

In
the Chinese market, consumers will also see a TV ad featuring Jackson's
music. Contests will also let consumers win tickets to a Michael
Jackson-inspired show by Cirque du Soleil and leather jackets inspired
by the singer's style. The global campaign builds on Pepsi's deal with
the singer's estate last year to use his image in a commercial that
premiered during the "The X Factor" TV show last year.

Although Pepsi is banking on the nostalgia Jackson can evoke, the partnership also resurrects painful memories.

In
1984, Jackson's hair famously caught fire while filming a commercial
for Pepsi at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The blaze happened
after a spark from a pyrotechnics display landed on the singer's head.
Jackson suffered severe burns and many trace his addiction to
painkillers to the incident. Pepsi gave Jackson $1.5 million as a
result.

Other music partnerships have led to controversy for Pepsi
as well. In 2002, conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly ran a segment
criticizing Pepsi for an ad featuring the rapper Ludacris. The company
pulled the ad the next day, but ran into trouble a few months later when
it ran ads featuring Ozzy Osbourne, who is known for peppering his
speech with swear words. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons urged a boycott
and the issue was resolved after Pepsi agreed to donate $3 million to
charity.

The partnership with Nicki Minaj hasn't yet raised many
eyebrows, even though her lyrics also contain profanity and sexual
content. Jakeman noted that Minaj's song "Moment for Life" was selected
for the ad because of specific lyrics that perfectly captured the Pepsi
ethos of living in the moment.