When I was on a tour in the Soviet Union in 1990, Pepsi and the fruit soda brand Fanta were everywhere. I hadn't seen Fanta soda since the 1970s in the United

When I was on a tour in the Soviet Union in 1990, Pepsi and the fruit soda brand Fanta were everywhere. I hadn't seen Fanta soda since the 1970s in the United States, but then the hotels and the automobiles looked like the 70s to me, too. There was television in the hotel rooms, and after figuring out how to flush the toilet, we'd get the TV on, and I would try to soak up as much Russian as I could manage before dinner. There was no advertising as such, not self-contained 30-second video. For there was as yet no widespread, rabid retail domestic market... But there was product placement. The game show host would read the question, contestants would try to answer, then they would all toss back the refreshing, bubbly delight that was Pepsi Cola. The newscaster would present the lead story, a bottle of Pepsi ready at hand. The ecstatic race car driver and his crew would chug some Pepsi as they celebrated thier victory. It was a different time. It really happened.