http://www.macmerc.com/news/archives/1270

I like the angle at which the liquid in the diagram settles.

Yeah the arrow seems to be saying "Look at the obvious error in this image!"

Read on to find out how to never get a bottle that doesn't win.

I remember reading a story somewhere where a teacher was talking about double negatives. She was saying that in Russian a double negative is still negative while in English a double negative is a positive. She went on to tell them that in no language does a double positive make a negative.

Then a kid in the back pipes up with: "Yeah, Right".

At least she knew he was listening!

Used to use this exact method with the Gatorade NCAA giveaways several years ago.

Free ITunes from Pepsi...Too bad I don't drink soft drinks anymore.

Umm, doesn't a bottle of Pepsi cost more than $1? Doesn't seem like you're getting anything for free. You're paying for the song many times over. The Pepsi probably costs about 2 cents, including plastic and distribution. Might as well just buy directly from Apple. If you don't care about quality of course. Otherwise you would likely not bother. At least there's software out there now to convert the (DRM) AAC to an AIFF. Beats the old standby of burning a CD then re-ripping and encoding. I just keep buying CDs on eBay and ripping them myself. Bruno

I am sure the thrill is the feeling they are ripping off someone no saving money. Or maybe if you are going to buy pepsi anyway why not get one with a free song.

I agree used cds are the better route. (or new ones for that matter)

Umm, doesn't a bottle of Pepsi cost more than $1?

The point here is that you don't pay for anything. You get the code for a free download from iTunes from looking through the bottle, then you leave the bottle at the store.

- trs

I don't think that's the point. The instructions are intended to give you an advantage in buying the correct bottles. I think the idea is that either the winning caps are difficult to read, since the code is random numbers and letters (or not all of it is visible), or that you'll look really weird taking a pad and pencil into the soda isle.

Regardless, if you read the instructions, I think it's implied that you'll be buying the winning sodas, in which case Bruno is right and you'd be a sucker for spending over a dollar to win a "free" song.

This promotion also assumes two things about me: I'm a Pepsi drinker and I would dare to darken iTunes's doorstep. Hells no on both accounts. What an insulting commercial that one is. Green Day disappointed me on that one.

The way they make it sound you can't see the code just the word again if it says try again.

Umm, doesn't a bottle of Pepsi cost more than $1?

At the typical rip you off "convenience" store, yes. At work, the machines are set to $.90 for bottles. In the past they used to be $.70, back when Compaq was paying a part of the cost.

So, a drink you pay normal price for, then a free song, not a bad deal. If people are going to buy a Pepsi just to rip the cap off for the song and not drink it, then yes, that is stupid.

I would buy the Pepsi just for the song if I used iTunes, I know some convenience stores that sell them for like $.75 so it would be cheaper. I will wait for Coca-Cola to come out with their MusicMatch version.

with their new patented NON-SEETHRU bottle!

OK, moral dilemma – Should one rip off the music industry with P2P or take advance of Pepsi ?

I don't see the moral dilemma the same way.

I see the moral implications of looking at the cap before you buy it but not the taking "advantage" of Pepsi that you see.

I remember when Sprite used to have there game and you could look straight through the bottom of the bottle and see a winning cap and clearly make out the words. They have more recently made it so you can't see the words through the use of a "gel" filter/seal in the cap.

Ripping off the music industry is far more morally wrong than taking advantage of what Pepsi is offering. Pepsi has paid Apple/iTunes millions to be able to give away the songs. They have a set number of songs that they are giving away and as long as you pay for the Pepsi, then you aren't really taking advantage of Pepsi. They should have realized from previous contests that you could make out some of the words and fixed it.

Either way, they are not losing money like the music industry is.

Just my $.02

They have more recently made it so you can't see the words through the use of a "gel" filter/seal in the cap.

Wow, I didn't know what those were for! You're right! That's interesting.

They are on every bottle but the color is really what "masks" the writing behind it. That is why it is sometimes difficult to see the writing without taking it off.

It provides a seal. If you take it off and tip your bottle upside down, then it will leak out (albeit slowly).

From an interesting comment on this MacNN article: http://www.macnn.com/news/23527

"[...] the code on the cap is an access-control device to protected copyrighted iTunes songs... which means that telling people to look under the cap is a circumvention method, and surely Apple or Pepsi or someone can sue CNN for violating section 1201 of the DMCA.

[...] the soda itself is the key to the protection device, or at least it's opacity is. The soda water keeps the "secret music code" from being revealed in much the same way that the CSS encryption hides a DVD's contents."

The way they make it sound you can't see the code just the word again if it says try again.

Yeah, apparently these guys hadn't figured out that if it was a winning bottle that you could very easily read the code and never even have to buy the bottle.

- trs