THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; In Pepsi's new campaign, the drink goes with everything except celebrities and lifestyle issues. (Published 2003) (2024)

THE cola wars are taking an unusual twist as the Pepsi-Cola Company division of PepsiCo introduces its first campaign in years meant to offer rational reasons to drink its flagship beverage rather than intangible emotional ones.

The campaign for the Pepsi-Cola brand, which gets under way Sunday, carries the theme ''Pepsi. It's the cola.'' The television and radio commercials, online advertisem*nts, billboards and store signs portray the product as a hero, presenting Pepsi as the perfect accompaniment to all manner of food -- like hot dogs, snack chips and pizza -- and all manner of fun, like football games and dates.

Think of it as ''Things go better with Pepsi,'' a sell almost as soft as before but with a more pointed purpose.

''It's a different approach for us,'' said David Burwick, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for the Pepsi-Cola North America division of Pepsi-Cola. He spoke yesterday at a presentation of the $150 million campaign to reporters in Midtown Manhattan.