Move over soft drink companies - Pepsi's here to stay at UNM.
Once again, profit rears its pointy little head as our illustrious University has awarded the Pepsi Bottling Group an eight-year contract that will pay UNM about $1 million yearly and give exclusive bottled and fountain drink sales rights to the soft drink company.
That's absolutely wonderful - except for the people on this campus who don't happen to drink Pepsi products. Pardon me if I happen to be one of them.
Although according to the contract the University can retain "15 percent of convenience store space for drinks produced by other bottlers," I wonder if I'm part of only a small minority of those UNM students who feel that staring down the huge Pepsi vending machines where the previous juice or other drink products not affiliated with Pepsi had been is more than a bit — well, annoying.
While far more important issues should affect the student body, such as the search for a new UNM president or the primary elections, it's still a pain to march all the way over the UNM Bookstore or some other lone convenience variety of store to hunt down a Dr. Pepper.
This brings about the question of UNM's profiteering ways, which have always been present in places such as the Athletics Department, but now is extending beyond athletics and into food and drink franchises ruling the campus. The contract also includes several joint marketing strategies such as Pepsi promotions and funding for and at UNM events off-campus.
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While all the boys may be drooling over Britney Spears' Pepsi commercials, it's a bit unnerving to keep having a certain company stuffed down our throats simply for a million bucks.
Students inclined to wonder about their limited choice of beverages - you can purchase Pepsi soft drinks, Aquafina bottled water, SoBe, Lipton iced tea and Starbucks Frappuccino. Anyone else who has a problem with that can just go off-campus and get their Diet Cokes elsewhere.
Move over soft drink companies - Pepsi's here to stay at UNM.
Once again, profit rears its pointy little head as our illustrious University has awarded the Pepsi Bottling Group an eight-year contract that will pay UNM about $1 million yearly and give exclusive bottled and fountain drink sales rights to the soft drink company.
That's absolutely wonderful — except for the people on this campus who don't happen to drink Pepsi products. Pardon me if I happen to be one of them.
Although according to the contract the University can retain "15 percent of convenience store space for drinks produced by other bottlers," I wonder if I'm part of only a small minority of those UNM students who feel that staring down the huge Pepsi vending machines where the previous juice or other drink products not affiliated with Pepsi had been is more than a bit — well, annoying.
While far more important issues should affect the student body, such as the search for a new UNM president or the primary elections, it's still a pain to march all the way over the UNM Bookstore or some other lone convenience variety of store to hunt down a Dr. Pepper.
This brings about the question of UNM's profiteering ways, which have always been present in places such as the Athletics Department, but now is extending beyond athletics and into food and drink franchises ruling the campus. The contract also includes several joint marketing strategies such as Pepsi promotions and funding for and at UNM events off-campus.
While all the boys may be drooling over Britney Spears' Pepsi commercials, it's a bit unnerving to keep having a certain company stuffed down our throats simply for a million bucks.
Students inclined to wonder about their limited choice of beverages — you can purchase Pepsi soft drinks, Aquafina bottled water, SoBe, Lipton iced tea and Starbucks Frappuccino. Anyone else who has a problem with that can just go off-campus and get their Diet Cokes elsewhere.
Angela Williams
Editor in chief
