Now we all know that marketing is the key to sales. Therefore Pepsi is about to pull the largest rabbit they could find out of their magic hat. The one and only Michael Jackson. What better person than the King of POP himself to spearhead a marketing campaign for Pepsi Cola.
On Thursday May 3rd, 2012 , the soda giant announced a global deal with the Michael Jackson estate. Terms were not disclosed, but there will be a special edition can featuring Jackson’s image, contests, and chances to download remixes of Jackson’s most famous songs. Talk about a loaded marketing strategy. This may put Pepsi in the lead over Coca Cola (long time beverage competitor) in sales.
Jackson died from an accidental drug overdose in 2009. Joe Levy, editor of Billboard magazine, says Pepsi is partly responsible. An accident on a Pepsi commercial set in 1984 left Jackson badly burned. Levy said, “(The) burns caused substantial pain, he had what was at least his third plastic surgery, and began a course of pain killers just to deal with what was a horrific accident. Those things never stopped for him.” So of course you can see the irony and why there is so much discord with Michael’s fans. Many feel that Michael would have never died of pain medications if it was not for the Pepsi Cola incident. How do you feel about blaming Pepsi for Michael’s death? Not to mention, now, they want to still use his brand and image to market their products for profit.
A spokesperson for the Jackson Estate, released a statement saying, “Michael would have loved that we are making the record books with his image on a billion cans around the world.” I guess at the end of the day it comes down to the mighty DOLLAR. I am sure Michael’s estate has financial obligations to uphold and this profitable opportunity can not be turned down.
Let me know how you feel about this hot topic? Do you see the same future for Whitney Houston’s postmortem career? I guess the saying “Your worth more dead than alive” stands strong in this situation.
Dr.O
