Pepsi Lures Timberlake Back to the Super Bowl Music Promotions by Burger King, Cola Co. Gird Gridiron Contest

Originally posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs for Soap 01.16.08 @ 10:42 AM

Four years after Nipplegate, Justin Timberlake is slipping back into the Super Bowl.

Pepsi and Amazon are launching a $1 billion Pepsi Stuff "collect-and-get program" promotion, and the multi-talented performer has been tapped to promote it in a Super Bowl ad this February. It's the first time Timberlake has appeared in the big game since a record-breaking $550,000 fine was imposed upon CBS for his and Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during the halftime show in 2004.

For the Pepsi Stuff promotion this year, four billion specially marked Pepsi products will offer points that can be redeemed for music from the Amazon MP3 store. The songs -- sans DRM -- can be played on virtually any digital portable device, including Apple's iPod, organized in any music management application or burned to CD. Five points will earn consumers one MP3 from the libraries of EMI Music, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and "tens of thousands of other music labels," though the list unmistakably omitted Universal, who are not part of this promotion thanks to stalled negotiations. Additionally, points can also be applied towards bigger-ticket items.

Separately, Burger King is running an online contest that combines the Super Bowl, gospel singing and user-generated content as part of a "My Song, My Way" campaign. Until January 28, participants can upload an acapella video performance, and winning contestants will receive an all-expenses-paid vacation to Super Bowl XLII in Phoenix, Arizona. The winners will also be invited to perform alongside NFL players at the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration, which takes place at Phoenix Symphony Hall.