Subject: Pepsi Postpones "Magic" Plans
Date: Published: 11/15/91 (36 lines)
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    Marketing & Media -- Advertising:
    NBC Is Criticized For Blurring
    Line Between Programming, Ads
    ----
    By Joanne Lipman

[106 lines irrelevant to AIDS removed.  -- sysop]

    Pepsi `Magic' Postponed
    PepsiCo has postponed plans to film a new commercial
 starring basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson in the wake
 of his announcement that he has tested positive for HIV, the
 virus that causes AIDS.  
    Mr. Johnson had been set to appear in a Pepsi-Cola
 commercial which was scheduled to begin filming this week.
 Mr. Johnson "asked to be excused from the campaign," a Pepsi
 spokesman said, noting his contract as Pepsi endorser runs
 through July 1992.  "There is no reason for Pepsi and Magic to
 rush into any plan."
    Pepsi was the first sponsor known to delay an ad featuring
 Mr. Johnson since the disclosure about his infection.
 Converse, among other advertisers, has set plans to begin
 AIDS public-awareness campaigns featuring the basketball
 star, who has just retired from the game, and has said it
 will continue to use him for product endorsements.
    The Pepsi spot was intended to be aired in the first
 quarter of the new year, probably during the Super Bowl.  Mr. 
 Johnson's agent, Lon Rosen, couldn't be reached for comment.

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