Pop Scholars

Few radio listeners suspect that Pepsi-Cola Co.'s public relations go much beyond the catchy "Pepsi-Cola hits the spot. . . ." That is because the 12-oz. bottlers, surprisingly, have given almost no publicity to their: 1) annual, rich ($15,250 this year) Portrait of America painting contest; 2) centers for service personnel in New York, Washington, San Francisco; 3) Walter Mack Job Awards for college graduates (one year of vocational training with pay) ; 4) three Junior Clubs (juke boxes, dance floors, soft drinks, etc.) for New York City's restless teenagers; 5) Voice Record Program, through which soldiers can send spoken messages home free of charge.

Last week Pepsi-Cola quietly launched its biggest promotion of all by awarding the first of an annual batch of 117 college scholarships. The scholarships will pay tuition, fees, traveling expenses, and $25 a month for four years to two students from each state and the District of Columbia, plus 19 additional Negro students from the South. Winners were chosen through tests given to candidates elected by their own high-school classmates. A board of eleven, headed by Professor Floyd W. Reeves of the University of Chicago, has full control of the program. Pepsi-Cola is only putting up the money.

The originator of Pepsi-Cola's public welfare policy is brisk, 49-year-old President Walter Staunton Mack Jr. Mr. Mack has long believed that industry owes and should pay more to the community than mere jobs. Says he: "This project is the newest expression of [that] basic philosophy."

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