Although I don’t spend a lot of time in front of the television, I do watch for new advertising campaigns and unique ways that beverage producers are reaching consumers. I can only imagine what kind of a challenge that must be considering the number of channels people have access to. The Pepsi Edge bottle competition on the Thanksgiving episode of “The Apprentice” on NBC was a promotion unlike any other that I’ve seen. And the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Besides the Super Bowl, when are millions of Americans home and glued to the T.V.? Thanksgiving evening was the perfect opportunity to highlight Edge, Pepsi’s mid-calorie cola, on a show that’s been popular since host Donald Trump uttered “you’re fired” in the first episode.

If you didn’t see the show, Donald Trump, who is not only the show’s host but also the potential boss, challenged the two teams of job candidates to design a new bottle for Edge. In addition to showing the teams working with marketing and design people at PepsiCo, the cameras also covered the blowmold design process. While the show revolved around the label designs and bottle presentation, the show offered a unique opportunity to get inside a bottle-making operation when they discussed the initial shape of the package, which featured the letters spelling Edge and a hole through the ‘d’.

The bottle isn’t going to be mass-produced, but Pepsi is offering one lucky winner the chance to win tickets to the show’s season finale. The winner could also win a replica of the bottle or a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi Edge. That’s smart marketing.