Pepsi will sponsor a new television show called 'Pepsi Play for a Billion', produced by AOL Time Warner's WB Network. A thousand contestants will play for a $1m (£639,500) guaranteed prize. The contestant who wins will then have the chance to play for $1bn without forfeiting the original prize money. Pepsi says that the person will have a one-in-1,000 chance of winning a billion dollars.
The show will air in September as the culmination of Pepsi's summer promotion. People can win the chance to enter 'Pepsi Play for a Billion' by buying Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Sierra Mist, which will run the promotion on-pack.
Pepsi will run television advertising in support of the promotion, to be produced by BBDO New York. AOL Time Warner will promote the programme across its television, publishing and online assets. The promotional idea was created by TLP in Connecticut, and OMD New York, a division of Omnicom, brought the broadcast elements together. It will also be promoted via a microsite on Yahoo!.
The cola giant is set to launch its Pepsi Vanilla variant in the US in late summer. Vanilla Coke has already been a huge success in the US and is due to launch in the UK next month.
Pepsi also said that it had redesigned the packaging for Pepsi and Caffeine Free Pepsi with bold graphics.
Dave Burwick, chief marketing officer of Pepsi-Cola North America, said: "We're out to spark excitement our way -- with big ideas and big activities.
"We're blazing new paths in music and entertainment and pulling out the stops with daring promotions, new products and new packaging."
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