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Space

Drink Pepsi, Go to Space? 336

Posted by michael from the be-like-mike dept.
Kayaker writes "According to an article on AdAge.com, Pepsi is considering a new promotion contest that would include a ride on the Russian Soyuz space taxi. Maybe Pepsi is better than Coke?"
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Drink Pepsi, Go to Space? More

Drink Pepsi, Go to Space?

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  • ...have the cash value, thanks.

  • Does pepsi keep their promises? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by lingqi ( 577227 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @12:48PM (#4274480) Journal
    what happened to tha harrier jet they promised to the pepsi drinkers a little while back? it was supposed to be a bargain (if you bought 10 million dollars worth of pepsi, i think), but i don't remember if anyone actually got it.

  • Skyway Soap contest (Score:3, Funny)

    by cryofan2 ( 243723 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @12:50PM (#4274507) Homepage
    I use Skyway Soap because.....

    whatever happened to that contest, anyway?
    • My kingdom for some mod points for the man who brings "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel" into this discussion. I think that may have been my first Heinlein. Whenever I read about cryogenic effects on life, I still think of the frozen "Mother Thing".
  • A ride on the Russian Soyuz space taxi?

    This could easily turn into "Pepsi -- burning all the way down."
  • I hope N*Sync isn't the corporate sponsor.... otherwise you can give up now
  • I'd rather have a date with Britney Spears than a ride on some russian space jelopy. Could you reconsider Pepsi?

  • Let's just wait and see... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Hard_Code ( 49548 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @12:51PM (#4274525)
    When deep space exploration ramps up, it will be corporations that name everything. The IBM Stellar Sphere. The Philip Morris Galaxy. Planet Starbucks.
  • they do make Mountain Dew which is decent.


    But, for a chance to go into space and return in one piece, why not drink a Pepsi.

  • i guess now that Lance Bass is out of the way, Britney Spears wants a crack at true (not just near-) weightlessness? ;)
  • Coke adds life!

  • You couldn't get me in a Russian space ship. (Score:3, Funny)

    by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @12:58PM (#4274613) Journal
    No way, no how. I don't think I'm ready to trust my life to a space program that has to cowtow to B-List celebrities to pay the rent.

    Plus, I've seen too much media coverage about Russian technology in action. Think submarines, chernobyls, satellites, space stations, political ideologies.

    No thanks, Pepsi. I'll take my chances with the giant slingshot I'm building in my backyard.
  • Hmmm...drink a Pepsi, go into space. I'm just not sure it's worth it.

    Quoth Homer: Ewwwww! I'll take the clam juice.
  • Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the last win a free trip into space contest was NASA's "teacher in space" on the ill fated Challenger mission. Space flights are dangerous, especially in the under funded Russian program.

    Now Pepsi wants to up the anti with one of the biggest contests ever including a realty TV show. I know the odds of anything going wrong are low (I'd go if I won) but still this sounds like a bit of a gamble on Pepsi's part.

  • nope (Score:4, Funny)

    by Jonny Ringo ( 444580 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @01:03PM (#4274669)
    Maybe Pepsi is better than Coke?

    Nope, You don't order a Jack and Pepsi for a reason. And that's all I have to say.
    • Drinking jack with any soft drink is not the true path to greatness. Jack on the rocks, or neat preferably, is the way to go

      If you're into hard rock / metal / grunge then swigging from the bottle is the only option. Coke didn't even exist when Scotch Whisky and Rye drinks were invented. Think about that.

    • Re:nope (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Dynedain ( 141758 ) <slashdot2&anthonymclin,com> on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @01:11PM (#4274759) Homepage
      Um, the Jack and Coke was invented in the days when Coke actually had Cocaine in it. So a Jack and Coke was a nice (and very addicting) intoxicant.
      • PEP-si had cocaine in it too.

        Both were marketed as 'pick-me-ups'. To an extent, they both still are, with caffeine replacing cocaine.

        Too may people were pouring it up their noses.

      • Cite? According to snopes, Coca-Cola did indeed contain cocaine but not THAT much... something like 0.06 grams per 25,000,000 gallons. Of syrup mind you, not the carbonated fountain drink.

        Besides, if you don't get intoxicated enough after a series of Jack & Cokes sans cocaine, then I'm worried about you.
    • I wouldn't sully good whiskey with any soda. Personally, I prefer whisky (that's the Scotch version, BTW)... preferably a 15yr Macallan or 12 yr Oban. Can't wait to get my hands on a 16yr Lagavulin!

  • I wonder just how much of an effect these sorts of promotions have on sales. I've never once thought, "No, I think I'll drink Pepsi this time - I might win a widget!" I probably wouldn't start drinking Pepsi all of the sudden were the promotion going on - IMO, the statistics don't support the sacrifice that switching soft drink brands would be...

    Brandon

  • also - more practically (Score:4, Funny)

    by lingqi ( 577227 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @01:04PM (#4274687) Journal
    since they pay britney spears a LOT of cash, apparently. how about a "drink pepsi, get laid (by teen sensation)" promotion.

    only THEN, will pepsi be better than coke. and only until you see the "morning after" spears.
  • The irony is that after buying all that Pepsi, he'll be Too Fat For Space.

    There's still hope. Everybody pray for Lance!
  • Considering PizzaHut (at the time a PepsiCo subsiderary) was the first to slap their logo to the side of a space-bound rocket (a Russian one btw), this doesn't suprise me in the least.
  • Income tax on $20 Mil would easily put you in the 50% tax bracket. That means your $20 mil prize would cost you $10 Mil. If Pepsi decided to pay your tax bill that year as well then their cost goes up by $10 mil. Oh wait, there's tax on the extra $10 mil - that runs to another $5 mil. Then there's another 2.5 on the extra 5... By the time all is said and done, it's an extra $20 mil just for taxes.

    Pepsi's $35 mil promotion just ended up costing $55 Mil. It'd probably be cheaper for Pepsi to buy a congressman to exempt you for 1 year from income taxes.

    • (snip) It'd probably be cheaper for Pepsi to buy a congressman to exempt you for 1 year from income taxes.

      You know, that may not be a bad idea for a promotion/contest for a company.

      "Drink Coke, and you could win one year without income tax!"

      This begs the question, is it legal for a some third-party company to pay your taxes for you? Any CPAs out there willing to comment?

  • When we are exploring space (optimism!) you'll have Coke sending ships round making stars go nova so Earth's night sky permanently (depending on position of course) has the Coke logo on display...

    Don't you just love comedy scifi books. Also remember, infinity welcomes careful drivers ;-)

  • If you drink a couple of Pepsi's real fast, you just may allow yourself to leave the ground on occasion.

    Mix in a few quicky burritos into the meal, and start the countdown.....
  • They'll have to send somebody along on the commercial moon mission [slashdot.org] just to stay ahead.

  • Said a rival: "It's classic Pepsi."

    Boy, I wonder which company might be a rival of Pepsi?!

  • the person that wins this thing is most likely to drink large amounts of pepsi? Chances are they will be fatter than me, and I am in no condition for space travel. Wonder if they will put the winner on a year long diet or something. Still gonna stick with the dew though...

  • Is Britney coming? Hmmm... floating in zero-G... must grab something for stability...

  • Talk about the wrong market... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Zathrus ( 232140 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @01:14PM (#4274779) Homepage
    Does it strike anyone else that the people least likely to be fit enough to travel to space are also the ones who guzzle tons of soft drinks?

    And yes, I almost certainly fit into that group too.
    • I don't know any figures offhand for Pepsi, but coke sells over 1 billion servings of its many products daily. This includes over 200 drink products, and probably some food products too.


      But my point here is that nearly everyone drinks soft drinks.

  • Ordinary civilians have no place taking joyrides in space. Not yet.

    Maybe it's not quite the same a contest to ride with a test pilot on an experimental aircraft, but it's not like boarding an airliner. Or like the contest in Heinlein's (fictional) "Have Space Suit, Will Travel," which was for a trip on an established commercial tourist route.

    I can still remember the Challenger disaster. What a shame. And what hubris, taking a schoolteacher along for a ride, so millions of kids could watch the Shuttle explode on TV in real time...

    I hope the Hayden Planetarium still has the list I signed when I was a kid, the list of people interested in being on the first passenger trip to the Moon. But I'm not entering this Pepsi contest.

    • >I can still remember the Challenger disaster. What a shame. And what hubris, taking a schoolteacher along for a ride, so millions of kids could watch the Shuttle explode on TV in real time...

      You say that like it was the plan all along.

      Noone knew it was going to blow up, and everyone involved (teacher included) knew the risks.

      > Ordinary civilians have no place taking joyrides in space. Not yet

      You go ahead and define 'ordinary'. And then tell them what they can and cannot do.

      Here's a secret: Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Roberta Bondar, Sally Ride, all 'ordinary' people. They don't come from some super-race of genetically bred space-people. Or do they?

      Besides, others closer to your definition of 'ordinary' *have* taken joyrides on russian craft. There's the japanese reporter who spent a week or two up there. (And got awful sick, as I remember).
  • Coke has had the lead for as long as I've been alive (19+). A ride on the Soyuz will cost them a real bundle, so they must be depending on making enough sales that they'll recoup their costs, while long term income is increased by new regulars.
  • Seriously, anyone who does go into space has to be in VERY good shape. Few Americans, myself included fit into that definition at all.

    At the very least, most people, again myself included I am ashamed to admit, would have to lose weight and do some hard core working out to prepare themselves for the effects of blast off, weightlessness for several days, and the sudden return to Earth. Many astronauts far fitter than most of us need carried off the shuttles after spending only a week or two in space.

    Now for the real irony. To get the contestant physically fit for their trip, they would likely have to STOP drinking pop for the duration of the training and trip, meaning you likely wouldn't see someone chugging a dew upside down on the space station or a Russian rocket.
  • when i was living in japan a few years ago, suntory (pepsi's japan distributor) tries to up pepsi's market share with a "trip to space" contest. i was all excited until i found out the "winner" would still have to shell out some dough, and it was a suborbital flight, during most of which one would be presumably stuck to the chair. info [rpi.edu] about the contest seems pretty hard to find on the web.
  • a weightless Britney Spears doing her next Pepsi commercial from space. Do they make belly space suits?

  • Ironically... (Score:3, Funny)

    by cascino ( 454769 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @01:22PM (#4274864) Homepage
    I recall early NASA attempts to bring soda into space. Evidently, straight up carbonated beverages will make the average human very sick in zero-G.
    I wonder if you'll hear about that in the Pepsi commercials...
  • The chances of you winning that trip to space, even you tubby software engineers that drink a gallon of soda a day, is so slim as to be meaningless. So just drink whatever you want. At least coke has a little acidic bite to it, wheras pepsi is just disgustingly sweet and syrupy. Kind of like Brittney Spears, again.

    Coke tastes better than Pepsi (way better). Dr. Pepper is better than both.
  • So much of celebrity endorsements, commercial contracts, and sweepstakes, because the fact remains that most people prefer the taste of coke over Pepsi. Just look at any of the big chains, the major ones: McDonald's. Burger King, and Wendy's all serve coke. The chains that serve Pepsi are either owned by Pepsi or are given significant incentives to purchase it. No restaurant would ever choose Pepsi if Pepsi and Coke were offered at the same price.
  • I don't mean to get OT here, but i've seen a few post here and there about the profit margins pepsi and coke enjoy, so the question bears to mind, what is their profit margin?

    Considering soda is nothing more than water with carbonation, sugar, caffiene, and caramel coloring, and the fact that these companies buy the ingredients in commodity sized lots, the profit margin must be tremendous.

    Funny how coke can sell Aquafina (water) for the same price as coke. Must be a cash cow for them.

    Here in San Jose CA the price for a 20oz bottle of coke is around $1.20 at most 7-11's, gas stations ect.
  • I am going to drink a helluva lot of pepsi (and probably Mountain Dew) I already drink over 2 liters a day average. So a little more won't hurt. But I am hoping to win AND be able to sue, because there is no warning label on the bottles that my teeth may all rot and fall out.

    I smell cash and a ride to the space station, which is will work out great because the mushy astronaut food will be all I can eat with out teeth.

  • Cola Jitters (Score:3, Funny)

    by doublem ( 118724 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @01:35PM (#4274979) Homepage Journal
    OK, so if I switch from Red Bull, Bawls, Whoopass and Skyrocket Syrup to Pepsi, I would have to drink...

    (Quick Math)

    245 cans a day to keep up my caffeine intake.

    I think that will give me an edge.

    Space, Here I Come!
    • (Quick Math Averaged, yeah it ain't Calculus)

      1 Liter comes to 34 ounces (I think)
      You need to consume 245 cans at 12 ounces
      which now comes to 2940 ounces.
      2940 / (34 * 2) // For two liter bottles

      So you need to consume more than 43 two liter bottles a day...

      I saw a promotion at Rite Aid for 99 cent Pepsi two liter bottles, but it limits you to 5 bottles.

      Either plan on forking over some cash and standing over a toilet... Or just stick to the red bulls and maybe those wings will take you to outer space...
  • ...to get me to actually drink Pepsi.

    They can call me once they start offering rights to human-inhabitable planets. Then... maybe. But I'm still not going to like it.

    Give me my Coca-Cola any day.
  • Will have to drink a lot of Pepsi now to make up for the money he couldn't pay for his training.
  • ...for two one-way tickets... BillG and his wife.

  • I heard about this when I was in Australia, that was 1999, Pepsi had the ad about it on TV as well, but I don't know whatever happened to it. Perhaps they have "In year 2050" in really small print.

    Any Australian want to back up this story?
  • Are we sure they're thinking of REALLY offering a ride on the taxi, or is this going to end like that Pepsi thing [snopes.com]?
  • "Maybe Pepsi is better than Coke?"

    Maybe Pepsi is ON coke ???

  • Pepsi ran commercials several years ago for a contest in which the grand prize was a trip in space ("uchuu no tabi")

    The ad ended with the squeeky female voiceover saying "honto desu!" ("It's true!")

    Never found out what happened to the contest as I moved to boring Canada where the first prize in a contest would be weekend with a moose.

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