PEPSI SNAGS BRITNEY SPEARS AS NEWEST ENDORSER

Purchase, NY-based Pepsi-Cola Co. last week signed teen pop sensation Britney Spears as the newest member of the Pepsi Generation.

Although exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, Pepsi executives said they signed the 19-year-old singer to the company's largest-ever endorsement deal, and media reports estimated the total to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Spears will be used to hype the flagship Pepsi brand worldwide in a variety of marketing disciplines including advertising and consumer promotion. A new TV spot from the ongoing "Joy of Pepsi" campaign will break during ABC's Academy Awards telecast on March 25.

The deal was brokered by music marketing agency Aaron Walpon Entertainment, Los Angeles.