Pepsi to team with Nicki Minaj but not on "Pop"

Singer Nicki Minaj performs at the NBA All-Star Game last month in Orlando, Fla. (Red Huber/Tribune Newspapers / March 28, 2012)

Reuters

3:23 p.m. CDT, March 28, 2012

PepsiCo Inc. is working with hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj, a company spokesman said on Wednesday, but not on a new beverage called "Pop," as previously reported.

Forbes reported on March 19 that the musician and entertainer was signed to be the face of a new drink to be called "Pop," citing an agency executive who was said to have brokered the deal.

A Pepsi spokeswoman disputed the story, saying the soft drink company formed a relationship with Minaj, but there was no new beverage. She declined to comment further.

Pepsi has been known to team up with celebrities for its soft drink advertising.

Elton John and other entertainers appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for Pepsi this year. Minaj performed during the Super Bowl halftime show with Madonna, who in 1989 was paid to appear in a Pepsi commercial featuring her song "Like a Prayer" that was quickly pulled from the air.

In 1984, Michael Jackson helped launch the Pepsi Generation with his commercials. Ray Charles sang "You got the right one, baby" in Diet Pepsi spots in the early 1990s. A decade later, Britney Spears pitched Pepsi drinks.