• Wall Street Journal (registration required), Friday, January 12, 2007 12:15 PM

In a bid to lure young soda drinkers, Pepsi is gambling that rotating can designs and an invitation for consumers to play a role in the imagery will pay off. It's a strategy used successfully by smaller beverage marketers, like Jones Soda.

Thirty-five designs, including such images as deejays, snowboards and emoticons, will be on Pepsi cans in supermarket shelves within days. More such designs are in the works for 2008.

While the soda giant risks alienating or confusing some consumers, one industry consultant says it may be worth it because "consumers are bored, bored, bored."

The new graphics are part of a broader new thematic campaign for Pepsi-Cola that emphasizes the brand's "fun, optimistic, and youthful spirit," Pepsi says. That push will also include an ad campaign developed by Omnicom Group's BBDO, to launch in February.

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