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Pepsi and Amazon Giving Away 1 Billion MP3s
The Great Pepsi MP3 Giveaway returns, but this time with...Amazon? Yup. Starting Superbowl Sunday (Feb. 3), Pepsi's stuffing 5 billion bottles of Coke soda with download codes, but you need five of 'em to get a free song. That's right, there will be no casual Pepsi drinkers getting free songs on Pepsi/Amazon's dime - which is about 40 cents a track, down from the 65-70 cents Amazon usually places in labels' pockets. Consequently, not all of them may participate, which is lame-o on their part.
It's a promotion people, come on - it helped put iTunes on the map back in 2004 and it might help Amazon's MP3 store gain some much needed visibility. What's interesting is that Billboard says this contest might serve as a tipping point to push Sony BMG into selling songs in the MP3 format - right now, Universal and EMI are the only two major labels doing so. If the contest isn't an adequate carrot, Wal-Mart might be providing the stick, since it's rumoured to be threatening to drop Sony and Warner's catalog if they don't supply its online store with the MP3 format.
Given the fear labels have of the iTunes monopoly, you'd think they'd jump at a player-neutral format, and moreover, the chance to promote alternate players in the online music market. I, however, am not jumping at the chance to drink Pepsi. Blech. [Billboard via Paid Content, Flickr]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Galley
Posted 2:32 PM 1/12/07
MP3? What is this, 1998?
Galley
Y2KGTP
Posted 1:53 PM 1/12/07
Coke will prob counter with 2 codes needed per song....
Y2KGTP
Darkest Daze
Posted 5:53 AM 1/12/07
I like pepsi and I use Amazon's MP3 service and even I don't really feel like participating. I guess I'll hang onto the codes if I get them, but I already know there's a good 70% chance I'll lose them before getting home.
Darkest Daze
superbad
Posted 11:57 PM 30/11/07
They really sell 5 billion bottles of Pepsi every few months? Christ, no wonder people are so fat.
superbad
gokor
Posted 11:15 PM 30/11/07
If anyone happens to drink pepsi, but does not care about this, send those caps my way.
I'm not spending $5 per song, especially if it means drinking something i don't like.
gokor
strider_mt2k
Posted 9:47 PM 30/11/07
I'll just take that bottle cap.
Nice.
strider_mt2k
brendanm14
Posted 9:24 PM 30/11/07
the best thing about the Pepsi/iTunes promo some years back was that you could tell by tipping the bottle and looking up into the cap if it was a "winner" or not. I got me a ton of iTunes of that promo and drank a lot of Diet Dew....sniff, i miss that promo.
I am sure as hell not collecting 5 codes for one song.
brendanm14
Marty_MacFly
Posted 9:00 PM 30/11/07
I'm glad Apple kicked Pepsi to the curb. Carbonated, sugar-filled soft drinks are the downfall of our country and iTunes doesn't need that poison attached to its name.
Marty_MacFly
ScotSax17
Posted 8:56 PM 30/11/07
So why aren't they doing it with iTunes anymore anyway? I kinda the last time they did it. 1 cap, chance to win instead of 5 caps, collect to win. It worked out well when I would go to the lunch and see if my daily Livewire meant I didn't have to use Limewire.
(God, worst joke I've ever made in my life)
ScotSax17
itchytooth
Posted 8:37 PM 30/11/07
I'll continue to drink water and listen to MPFREEs.
itchytooth
Rhainor
Posted 8:13 PM 30/11/07
@Empire: Uh, it's aimed primarily at people who drink Pepsi products anyway, like me.
Pepsi and Mountain Dew: my sodas of choice.
Rhainor
92BuickLeSabre
Posted 8:07 PM 30/11/07
@nutbastard and Superevil: You guys are forgetting about the 120 oz of Pepsi you're also purchasing!
Wait, on second thought, you probably aren't.
92BuickLeSabre
Empire
Posted 8:02 PM 30/11/07
@john: The iTunes/Starbucks thing was to make people who are already Starbucks customers and already use iTunes aware of the Starbucks iTunes store. That requires a very low level of participation.
This is designed to get people who are not already Pepsi drinkers to drink Pepsi, and/or to get people who do not already download music from Amazon to do so. That requires a much higher level of participation. At one download per Pepsi, it would be successful. But at one download per 5 Pepsis, don't count on it.
Empire
john
Posted 7:29 PM 30/11/07
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize the PR spin here. They aren't giving away songs if nobody's taking them.
95% of these codes will be thrown away. Same deal as the iTunes/Starbucks stunt.
john
Superevil
Posted 7:20 PM 30/11/07
With almost all 20oz going for $1.29 that's $6.45 per song. No thanks.
Superevil
nutbastard
Posted 7:16 PM 30/11/07
"give us $6, get 40 cents worth of preselected digital merchandise back!!"
whoopee.
nutbastard
Mandatory_Field
Posted 7:03 PM 30/11/07
@Empire: Hey it's even better than that: Just think how many fools -- who don't even drink Pepsi normally -- will go spend five bucks so they can "win" a "free" song that would normally cost them 99 cents....
Mandatory_Field
Empire
Posted 7:02 PM 30/11/07
Yeah, I realize I could just write down the codes. But my point remains the same: a promotion should not be so inconvenient to claim that the inconvenience outweighs the attractiveness and thereby provides me with no incentive to switch brands. Did they really think they'd win new customers by offering them 1/5 of a basically worthless reward?
Empire
Empire
Posted 7:00 PM 30/11/07
So each time I buy a soda, I have to hold on to the cap or container until I've accumulated 5 of them, then go online and enter 5 codes, just to get a non-physical, nearly-zero-overhead "prize" that I could buy myself for less than $0.99?
I'll stick to Coke, thanks.
Empire