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Soda Pop Art

In its latest bid to win over the Facebook generation, Pepsico is letting consumers create can designs for a chance to win $10,000.

The winning design will also appear on 500 million Pepsi cans distributed nationwide. The promotion, however, isn’t a user-generated free-for-all. Entrants using Pepsi-supplied Web tools are restricted to a prescribed set of colors and decals while the Pepsi logo itself remains off-limits to would-be artists.

Even those opting to use their own design programs are limited to the same color palette. Creativity isn’t the only design criteria, either. Contest guidelines say “the strength of Pepsi branding” is one of three key factors weighed by the company in choosing five semifinalists. A grand-prize winner will be decided by consumer voting in June, but user-submitted designs are already being showcased online.

The contest is part of a broader strategy by the beverage giant to refresh its flagship brand by rotating Pepsi packaging design every few weeks during the year. The company also let consumers create a billboard in New York’s Times Square. In upcoming months, cans will feature designs by music acts The All-American Rejects, Big & Rich and Pharrell Williams.

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