Pepsi Music

Pepsi ads wink at music downloading

By Theresa Howard, USA TODAY

NEW YORK � A new sort of Pepsi Generation will get air time on the Super Bowl: music downloaders.
Annie Leith, sued by the recording industry over music downloads, appears in a Pepsi ads.
Pepsi-Cola

Some 20 teens sued by the Recording Industry Association of America, which accuses them of unauthorized downloads, will appear in a Pepsi-Cola (PEP) ad that kicks off a two-month offer of up to 100 million free � and legal � downloads from Apple's iTunes, the leading online music seller. The sassy ad, to be seen by Super Bowl's 88 million viewers on Feb 1, is a wink at the download hot button. Pepsi hopes the promotion will connect its flagship cola, as well as Sierra Mist and Diet Pepsi, with teens who've shown more affinity for bottled water, energy drinks and the Internet.

The ad identifies the teens as a "few of the kids sued for downloading music free off the Internet." RIAA has filed 914 lawsuits since it began cracking down in September, including 532 this week.