iPod Coca-Cola promo
p2pnet.net News:- Apple Computer, which disgraced itself in a cynical (even for Apple) Pepsi/ RIAA iPod ad campaign featuring teenaged RIAA victims, has struck a deal with Pepsi rival Coca-Cola.
“Confirming the online corporate music business isn’t worth a light, the Coca-Cola company is yanking its UK Net download site on July 1,” p2pnet posted.
Now, in Britain, Coke will distribute code inside Coke packs that can be redeemed for iTunes downloads, which usually sell for a shocking 79 p ($1.47) each, and in Germany, it’ll give away iTunes songs and iPods with other European promotions to follow in the coming months, says Reuters.
The ‘redeem’ deal harks back to a farce in the US when Apple had iTunes code printed in bottle tops. However, people soon figured out you didn’t need to buy a drink. All you had to do was tilt the bottles and read the code off the underside of the caps.
In the Pepsi/RIAA iTunes promotion, staged during the Sleeze-bowl, as Super Bowl 2004 came to be known after Janet Jackson tittified TV watchers during the half-time show, 16 teenagers said to have shared music with each other online were pilloried in front of millions of people as part of an Apple iPod ad.
“Hi, I’m one of the kids who was prosecuted for downloading music free off of the Internet,” said one of them, despite the fact no one had been �prosecuted�. But, it was, “all in good spirit,” said Dave Burwick, chief marketeer for Pepsi North America.
Josh Wattles, however, didn’t think so.
“Falsely attributing criminal conduct to someone is a slam-dunk libel in just about every state,” he told p2pnet. “There’s no calculus of relative harm to justify this kind of abusive, untruthful and cynical behavior towards minors no matter how complicit their misguided parents may have been in this deception.”
Wattles is the former acting general counsel of Paramount Pictures, a key architect of the MPAA’s (Motion Picture Association of America) anti-piracy programs in the transition to videocassette distribution, and the former senior executive in charge of Viacom’s music subsidiaries, The Famous Music Publishing Companies.
Meanwhile, �Apple’s dominance in the European download market has been challenged in recent months, with France passing a law that could force it to open its iTunes store to portable music players other than the iPod,� says Reuters, adding:
�Three Nordic countries have also demanded that Apple open its platform to competitors.�
And on that, the company has finally responded to Scandinavian regulatory claims that it’s violating local laws by making iPod the only compatible portable player for iTunes downloads.
“Apple’s response, however, was not immediately made public as regulators considered the company’s request to keep parts of it confidential. Authorities would not comment on the content of the 50-page response letter,” says Silicon.com, going on:
“Consumer agencies in Norway, Denmark and Sweden have threatened to take the Cupertino, Calif., company to court on charges of violating contract and copyright laws. The action could lead to a ban on iTunes from Scandinavian markets if Apple does not allow songs purchased through its iTunes Music Store to be heard on other portable music players and not just the iPod.”
Also See:
disgraced itself – Pepsi-iTunes Super Bowl ad blasted, January 30, 2004
worth a light – Coca-Cola yanks download site, June 21, 2006
Reuters – Coke, Apple join in huge European iTunes giveaway, August 1, 2006
tilt the bottles – New Pepsi Apple iTunes ads, January 19, 2005
Sleeze-bowl – Janet Jackson’s mammary memory, November 9, 2004
Silicon.com – Apple meets response deadline from Scandinavian regulators on iTunes, August 1, 2006
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