The venerable New York Times just posted an interesting (and just a tad snarky) article in anticipation of this weekend’s MTV Video Music Awards. The article takes a look at the “Best Performance in a Pepsi Rock Band Video” contest sponsored by Pepsi, MTV, and — somehow — Yahoo!, who all banded together in a megapromo that pretty much lasted the entire summer.

From the article:

The addition of a Video Music Award category bearing the names of sponsors is “not diminishing the importance of the Moonman,” Mr. Shea said, adding that the executives on his side of the fence “worked hard with the producers of the show” so that it would not be perceived by viewers as intrusive or overcommercialized.

Help me out here: Is it even possible for this not to come off as overcommercialized?

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