Pepsi ad pulled due to Asian tsunami

A planned ad for Pepsi, with David Beckham, Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry among others has been delayed indefinitely following the the tsunamis in Asia. Teaser press releases about the ad sent out to Norwegian trade press the 21st of December with a reminder sent only a few hours before the real world tsunami happened contained images of the football heroes posing in front of a giant wave. "If we had a crystal ball we would never have sent out these images" said Lene Gjestad, Pepsi marketing Director in Norway to Verdens Gang. "The image was taken from the commercial which has a surfing theme, and was meant to be humorous, but looks frightening now after the disaster."

International Herald Tribune has more.

Pepsi had scheduled a glitzy promotional event in Madrid for Jan. 17 to introduce the ad, the latest in a celebrity-studded campaign employing Beckham, the English soccer star who plays for Real Madrid, and other athletes and entertainers.

"In light of the recent tragedy in Asia, we at PepsiCo International have taken the decision to put our 2005 surf-themed football campaign on hold for the foreseeable future," the company said in a statement