Twitter monetizes millennial nonsense with Pepsi-themed 'Promoted Stickers'

While I am technically not a millennial, I border on the cut-off. Actually, I think I am considered Generation Y, but I digress. Still, I can understand some of these young folks' likes and behaviors. While I cannot grasp the popularity of Snapchat, for instance, I totally love emoji.

Speaking of emoji, Twitter recently introduced "Stickers" which are really just emoji overlays for photos. In other words, you can jazz up your pictures on the social network with virtual stickers. Yes, it is arguably millennial nonsense, but it is actually quite fun. Today, Twitter announces 'Promoted Stickers' -- a way to monetize the feature. The first partner is Pepsi -- a sugar-water seller which once billed itself as "The Choice of a New Generation".

"Brands can design four or eight stickers -- like accessories and other props -- for users to add to their own photos. Photos with a brand's stickers are shared with all of a user’s followers, allowing brands to be featured by their fans in a truly authentic way. #Stickers act as a visual hashtag, meaning that photos with your brand’s sticker will be connected and discoverable to anyone who taps your brand’s sticker. This allows a brand to see and engage with the people who are using their stickers in creative ways", says Ilya Brown, Head of Product, Brand & Video Ads, Twitter.

Brown further explains, "Pepsi will be the exclusive launch partner of Promoted #Stickers, and will share nearly 50 custom stickers across 10 markets for fans to use as part of their global PepsiMoji campaign. The partnership also includes a custom Niche creator campaign showing consumers how to use their #Stickers, as well as a branded Pepsi emoji and a Promoted Trend. This campaign marks the largest partnership between Twitter and Pepsi to date".

While I am happy to see Twitter making money with the feature, I would rather a different company be the initial launch partner. True, there is nothing morally wrong with selling sugary sodas, but there is currently an obesity epidemic in the USA -- not to mention, diabetes. Since a good many Twitter "Sticker" users will likely be young and impressionable, having them decorate photos with Pepsi stickers is a tad cringe-worthy.

Do you agree that Twitter should have sought a healthier launch partner? Tell me in the comments.