• December 6, 2004

Discovery Communications and PepsiCo are helping each other get in shape by embarking on a year-long, multimillion-dollar media partnership centered on promoting the soft drink giant's new "Smart Spot" program, designed to help consumers make choices that contribute to healthier lifestyles.

The promotion features six of Discovery's U.S. networks, exposure on Discovery.com, and marks the largest advertising commitment to date for FitTV. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Smart Spot symbol is designed to help consumers identify more than 100 food and beverage products from PepsiCo that contribute to healthier lifestyles, a Discovery spokesperson said. Products with the Smart Spot designation--over 55 billion servings in the United States--meet nutrition criteria from authoritative statements from the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Aside from promoting the more salubrious offerings from Pepsi, the deal is likely to promote the bottom line health of both companies. Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Health Channel, Travel Channel, and FitTV will feature a variety of on-air ads, most notably healthy breakfast reminder messages that will air across these networks throughout the partnership.