Advertising: I’m Bad, Comrade

If anyone can change frugal comrades into free-spending Western-style consumers, Michael Jackson can. Or at least PepsiCo seems to think so. Last week the performer pirouetted his way onto Soviet TV in Pepsi commercials featuring slogans like “The new generation chooses Pepsi” that were superimposed in Russian. The ads, along with commercials for Visa credit cards and Sony TV sets, appeared in a series of talk shows with Soviet Commentator Vladimir Posner as host. He interviewed Americans in Seattle on subjects ranging from sex to presidential politics. The ads marked the first time that companies have been allowed to buy time on Soviet TV.

The advertisers were recruited by Global American Television, a small company based in Colrain, Mass., and co-producer of several public affairs programs that have appeared on both U.S. and Soviet TV. Global American arranged for PepsiCo, Visa and Sony to buy ten minutes on Posner’s shows for $20,000 a minute, in contrast with up to $800,000 a minute that advertisers pay for prime time on U.S. networks. Still, said Posner, “we can make some money out of this.”

So can advertisers. PepsiCo, which had a virtual monopoly on Soviet cola sales until 1984, faces competition from Coca-Cola, now sold in eleven Soviet cities. Visa cards will be issued to Soviet citizens who travel abroad later this year. Sony’s products are available only in stores that require payment in hard currency.