I Prefer a Coke with my Clay Aiken

Coke's 35 million dollar brand sponsorship on American Idol might just be worth all that dough after all. After Tuesday's airing, fans became very concerned when Coke's signature cups were not strategically placed across the judges table. In the aftermath of Paula ditching the show, and the possibility that the classy Howard Stern may in fact sit in Simon's tainted throne, the AI fans cant take any more change! They should be relieved to hear that the orange cups that were spotted were to promote the new Vitaminwater Zero drink, which is a coca-cola brand anyway! So sleep tight Idol fans, Coke may be the only stable thing left about American Idol.

Now back to the fact that coke coughs up 35 million big ones for this sponsorship. For fans to notice that detail so astutely and make that big of a fuss about the fact that those signature , or more so screams success. Idol even found it necessary to releascups weren't on that table, speakse this statement to calm the masses "The Coca-Cola cups have been a staple on American Idol since 2002 and will not be gone for long. During the Hollywood Week episodes, Coca-Cola will share the mic with Vitaminwater Zero (a Coca Cola brand), but the Coke cups will return on the first live show on Tuesday, Feb. 23."

That level of brand identity is remarkable, most of the time product placement flies under the radar in the eyes of the consumer. They are thought to be subliminal messages that create mass impressions, without creating any cognitive activity. However, after Coke’s 8 year run with idol, maybe the switch to Vitaminwater Zero was just a test, nonetheless now there’s a lot more people who now know what Vitaminwater Zero is than last week. So all in all double success for coke, they confirmed their sponsorship is working, and they created media buzz for Vitaminwater Zero and more importantly Coca-Cola.