One of my favourite Super Bowl stories this year, besides of course the Mancrunch campaign, was Pepsi. Pepsi decided to forgo advertising during the big game. Instead, Pepsi launched the refresh project.

Rather than spending money on a Super Bowl ad, Pepsi will launch the Pepsi Refresh Project on January 13, 2010. At that time, users can submit their ideas to Pepsi for ways to refresh their communities, making the world a better place.

Voting will begin on February 1, 2010, and the projects that get the most votes will be funded by Pepsi. Pepsi expects to spend $20 million to fund thousands of projects.

And it’s working, the website is full of projects of various sizes being pitched by real people looking to make a difference in their world. It’s an experiment I really hope proves viable from both a philanthropic standpoint as a marketing/financial standpoint. Just imagine the possibilities!

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