Pepsi Refresh Pulls a Flop, But Also a Fix

Just when you thought Pepsi Refresh was actually getting contest-based cause marketing right, the New York Times goes and reports on a scandal in which one of their celebrity contestants was getting a little extra help.

To Pepsi's credit, though, the company has responded quickly, and with the sort of openness that's essential for success in the new social media sphere.

Quick background: Pepsi Refresh is an online giving contest in which charitable organizations compete for votes to win one of four monthly bounties, ranging from $5,000 to $250,000. Participating nonprofits submit all their materials before the voting begins, and then spent the month mobilizing their networks to vote.

According to the New York Times, the Pepsi Refresh team broke their own rules by editing the entry of the Joyful Heart Foundation, a small charity started by Mariska Hargitay -- better known as Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Apparently after the submission period ended, the Refresh team uploaded a new promotional video for the group, a move that some say gives them an unfair advantage.

I can understand why some of the other entrants would be upset about this. A nonprofit has to make calculations about whether to enter a contest like this, considering the various constraints that rules put on them. When the rules are violated -- particularly when the rules are violated to help a celebrity-supported entrant -- it can be pretty deflating.

But when the scandal broke, Pepsi responded almost immediately. While in the New York Times article, a Pepsi spokesperson said that it was just an honest mistake that hadn't unfairly advantaged the Joyful Heart Foundation, clearly the Refresh team took it seriously enough, because they've changed the way they'll recognize winners.

In a blog post today, Pepsi announced that it would award Joyful Heart a discretionary grant of $250,000, instead of awarding them as a top vote getter. Pepsi will then award the previously arranged two $250,000 awards to the top vote getters. This seems to me a good way to ensure that they address the potential for unfairness in the contest, without unfairly hampering Joyful Heart either.

More than that, they haven't tried to sweep this under the rug. Their blog post about the mistake links to the original New York Times piece, as well as a Facebook page where people can talk about it. This is the sort of action that will likely help keep people bought in, rather than turned off.

Kudos to Pepsi for their approach with this mistake. Of course, there's still the larger question of how advertising and cause marketing intersect, and their significant for the social entrepreneurship field. If you're interested in that conversation, I highly recommend this piece: "Advertise Like You Give A Damn," which details one participant's frustration with the whole Pepsi Refresh experience.

Photo Credit: greginhollywood