Beyonce's $60 million Pepsi deal

Beyonce has been in partnership with Pepsi since 2001 and the 31-year-old's next steps are a first for advertising campaigns such as this. Photo / Pepsi

Beyonce Knowles has inked a US$50 million (NZ$60 million) deal with Pepsi, The New York Times reports.

The global superstar's new campaign with the company is described as a hybrid project. It will see the singer and drinks manufacturer collaborate on publicity for Beyonce's creative projects in exchange for her fronting campaigns for the firm.

"Pepsi embraces creativity and understands that artists evolve," Beyonce said in a statement. "As a businesswoman, this allows me to work with a lifestyle brand with no compromise and without sacrificing my creativity."

The official Twitter account for Pepsi has started to generate publicity around the mega deal. Images of the star pushing a shopping cart full of Pepsis and pictures of her face on the drinks cans have also been posted online, with the canisters hitting shops in February.

"ReTweet if you're pumped for Pepsi and Beyonce! #2013, (sic)" Pepsi tweeted along with a link to their website explaining more about the campaign's tag line Live For Now.

"Now is alive, fun and fearless. Now is refreshing. Now is epic. And most of all, now is what we make it," Pepsi posted on their website.

Beyonce has been in partnership with Pepsi since 2001 and the 31-year-old's next steps are a first for advertising campaigns such as this. As well as fronting the publicity for the star's new album, live concerts, photoshoots, and music promos, Pepsi will provide the backing for creative ideas and projects Beyonce would like to pursue over the next few years.

"[The deal is] a hybrid project with Beyonce that will include standard advertising like commercials as well as a multimillion-dollar fund to support the singer's chosen creative projects," the New York Times reported.

Lee Anne Callahan-Longo, the general manager of Beyonce's company Parkwood Entertainment, revealed more about the cutting edge collaboration.

"It's wise for a brand like Pepsi to give an artist the ability to truly express herself, instead of just the old-school way of, 'Do you want to be in an advertisement?' This is much bigger," Lee Anne explained. "This is, 'How can we create something together that is truly unique?'"

The launch will coincide with the release of Beyonce's next album, which is expected in 2013. Following her performance at the Pepsi-sponsored Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans on February 3, the singer will appear in a global TV commercial for the company entitled Live for Now.

- AAP