Dr Pepper Snapple Group this week will roll out a new effort around Gold Medal-winning U.S. gymnast McKayla Maroney and the N.Y. TIMES' Stuart Elliott noted it will focus on "five new soft drinks that are entries in the lower-calorie category of the carbonated beverage market along with Dr Pepper Ten." Maroney on Thursday will appear at Penn Station in N.Y., and the public "will be encouraged to sample 7Up Ten and take photographs in which they share their 'impressed' looks with her." Dr Pepper Snapple Group Senior VP/Marketing Regan Ebert said other marketers "'have approached' Ms. Maroney and asked her to declare herself impressed with their brands." However, Ebert added Maroney has "agreed to do it with us, exclusively for us.” Maroney's fee is not being disclosed, and Ebert said that the gymnast will "not appear in an advertising campaign for the five new soft drinks." Elliott noted N.Y.-based social media and digital agency Code & Theory "will work with Dr Pepper Snapple on the promotional event on Thursday" (NYTIMES.com, 2/25).
