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In 1984, Jackson's hair famously caught fire while filming a commercial for Pepsi at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The blaze happened after a spark from a pyrotechnics display landed on the singer's head. Jackson suffered severe burns, and many trace his addiction to painkillers to the incident. Pepsi gave Jackson $1.5 million as a result. Other music partnerships have led to controversy for Pepsi as well. In 2002, conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly ran a segment criticizing Pepsi for an ad featuring the rapper Ludacris. The company pulled the ad the next day, but ran into trouble a few months later when it ran ads featuring Ozzy Osbourne, who is known for peppering his speech with swear words. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons urged a boycott and the issue was resolved after Pepsi agreed to donate $3 million to charity. The partnership with Nicki Minaj hasn't yet raised many eyebrows, even though her lyrics also contain profanity and sexual content. Jakeman noted that Minaj's song "Moment for Life" was selected for the ad campaign because of specific lyrics that perfectly captured the Pepsi ethos of living in the moment. At a time when Pepsi is looking to take on a bigger rival, another stanza in the song might have relevance as well: "In this very moment I slay Goliath with a sling...And I will retire with the crown." It's a message Pepsi could very well be sending to Coke.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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