Free music from Pepsi-iTunes

Ever since Feb. 1, with the debut of contest advertising on the Super Bowl, I've been looking for Pepsi bottles with the telltale yellow cap and Apple iTunes logo signifying that the Pepsi-iTunes promotion had reached Hawaii.

For the uninitiated, Pepsi is giving away 100,000,000 free songs on Apple's iTunes via secret codes on the inside of the yellow Pepsi bottle caps.

Skunk! Nada. Zip. Leftover ProBowl promo bottles, that's all. Until Feb. 22, when I went into the Chevron convenience store in the Stadium Sack-n-Save parking lot... Bought four botles of yellow-capped sugar water with the promise that "One in three wins a free song on iTunes"!

I got THREE out of four! Let the free music downloads begin!

Comments

You probably could have saved money on buying the drink.

Thanks for posting this, Blaine! I was itching to myself. Hawaii distribution challenges aside, I was still starting to get worked up over how long it was taking Pepsi's promotional caps to get out here. Now that I know they're in town, I can start shopping in earnest!

Wonder if I'll see other roaming packs of geeks in stores, tilting and squinting?

Just wanted to pop in and drop a link. You guys (and gals) may find this somewhat humorous. And yes, it's related to the Pepsi/iTunes thing. :)

Yes, NemesisVex, I could have just gone to the iTunes store and bought the songs for a buck each. But then I wouldn't have gotten any free Pepsi to drink!

What I actually did was buy four bottles of Pepsi at $1.29 each. I got three free songs, to boot, which would have cost me $2.97 alone, in addition to the Pepsi.

The soda cost me $5.37 (including tax) and the songs would have cost $2.97 for a separately-purchased total of $8.34.

But I got four 20 oz. bottles of cold soda, plus three songs for a grand total of $5.37.

Pretty good, by me.

Blaine

By the way, I got a call from Leah Bernstein, president of Mountain Apple Records, who wanted to explain why Iz Kamakawiwo'ole was dropped from the iTunes Music Store.

Right now, we're playing phone tag. I'll post more info in the archive story on the subject when I hear from her.

Blaine, I think what he meant about saving money was that you could have tipped the bottles until you found all the codes you wanted. Would have saved spending the money on that fourth bottle you bought that didn't have a winning code.

Oh, yeah. I knew about the 25° tilt trick when I bought the soda. I even attempted to quickly tilt and peek, but the bottle fogged up instantly and I couldn't make out anything without getting extreme. Plus I felt incredibly silly standing in a convenience store tilting bottles in front of the refrigerator case. :)

In the end I decided to go with the flow and take my chances. Came out OK!

Blaine

I realize not that many are interested in this thread, but for the few that are, I submit possible information of interest:

For the first time today, March 10, I found Sierra Mist with the iTunes promotion and yellow cap at Times supermarket in the Kamehameha Shopping Center (You know, the "Kam" Shopping Center in Kalihi!) Kinda on the pricey side at $1.39, but I bought two, opened one: WINNAH! :)

Aloha,

Blaine

We took a trip to the Big Island over the weekend, and we practically lived off bottles of Pepsi and Sierra Mist (the Sierra Mist bottles with the yellow caps were widely available in Hilo... go fig!). My wife won with every cap she opened, an incredible 6-for-6, while I only got one win in my eight caps.

Waah! Are they all gone?

Seems like they're starting to disappear from stores already, just as they were starting to get around! I noticed the same thing.
Blaine

According to the Pepsi/iTunes promotion FAQ, it runs through March 31 and requires redemption by April 30. If March 31 means the end of cap distribution, chances are the tap was actually turned off a while ago. Still, I'd think if we got our caps late here in Hawaii, our supply would last longer.

The best part of the FAQ, though, is this:

"To receive one free game piece without purchase, and a copy of the official rules, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope postmarked on or before 3/31/04 to: Pepsi iTunes Game Piece, P.O. Box 9205, Young America, MN 55558-9205. Limit one free game piece per stamped outer envelope."

One per envelope, not per person or household. Got that? A $3 box of 100 envelopes and $37.00 in postage nets you $100 in iTunes songs!

If only I were that bored.

Wouldn't that get you 50 songs and not 100 songs? Two stamps and two envelopes for one song (assuming that the price of a song is that 99 cents). Basically $40 for roughly $50 worth of songs.

Yes, quite right, Helen. I realized my multiple errors as soon as I posted. This is why I studied journalism! Heh.

HOW DO I GET TO THE SITE TO DOWNLOAD MY FREE ITUNE BOTTLE CAP THINGS THIS HAS BEEN RATHER AGGRAVATING AND IM BECOMING IMPATIENT WITH THIS DEAL!

This thread was for the bottle cap promotion, v1.0 which happened LAST year. They may not be offering the same deal this time. Try going to http://www.apple.com/itunes/pepsi or http://www.pepsi.com/itunes to look for more info.

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