Those who think young say 'Pepsi Please'!

My sister and her family live in Wiarton, Ontario (Canada) - home of Wiarton Willie. The big news of the day up there today (Groundhog Day) is that Wiarton Willie didn't see his shadow, so we're due for an early spring. Personally, I think Coca-Cola and Pepsi are missing the boat here in terms of a promotional opportunity. Can't you just picture the cartoon image of Wiarton Willie plastered across a Coke can? Or how about a commemorative 8 oz. glass Coke bottle celebrating Wiarton Willie's yearly prediction? Hey, I think we're onto something here now...

So the unthinkable has happened... there are more Pepsi products in our household right now than there are Coke. That ranks right up there with pigs flying, the end of the world, and the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup. Sorry, cheap shot for Ivan and Bob (father-in-law).

But seriously - everywhere I look right now, there are Pepsi cans. The reason is, of course, because PepsiCo. Canada has released two very prominent promotions within days of each other. First, the SuperBowl 2-can Pepsi set (1 Pepsi and 1 Diet Pepsi). These cans are similar to the US promotion, except that our cans here have both english and french and the scripting is slightly different.

The other is a much larger undertaking. Once the smoke clears from this weekend's SuperBowl, the Wayne Gretzky 'Greatest Moments' promotion kicks into high gear. Pepsi's association with Gretzky means a lot this year, at least as far as can collecting goes. There are 6 regular Pepsi cans and 6 Diet Pepsi cans on the horizon due to hit stores between now and the end of February. My office is a sea of blue with cans #1 and #2 stacked up all over the place - and I don't even drink Pepsi. I'm working on making 6 complete sets, so the blue is likely to continue, at least for a few more weeks. And hey, if you're a Pepsi collector, you'll want to check out the special edition 'everything Pepsi' Soda Spectrum Series magazine.

I'll be back here in a few days to chat about Jones Soda's Valentine's Day 2006 series, so check back soon!