"On Sunday, December 8, Cindy Meyers dressed her six-year-old son in his Christmas finery and brought him to Fashion Square Mall for a photograph on Santa's knee. As she stood in line, Meyers noticed Father Christmas handing children tall Pepsi cups, each featuring the image of Britney Spears flaunting her infamously bejeweled, artificially tanned navel.

'Every parent rolled their eyes,' says Meyers. 'I just couldn't believe it.'

Meyers is part of a Britney Spears backlash; parents worry that corporations are over-sexing children with risque merchandise and advertisements. As a physical therapist, Meyers says he's seen lots of young girls with eating disorders, which she blames in part on media images.

'A lot of girls look at these magazines and see these shows, and they think they have to live up to this unrealistic image,' says Meyers. 'When Santa was handing out cups with Britney Spears, that was the last straw..

At the local Pepsi bottling plant, Everett Anderson says the Mall called asking for something for free.

'The cups were the only thing we had that I thought would appeal to children,' says Anderson. 'I have two grandkids, and they think there's nothing in the world like Britney Spears.'

"In a rite of passage for pop royalty, teen queen Britney Spears has inked a sponsorship deal with Pepsi, following in the footsteps of Madonna, Michael Jackson and the Spice Girls. Spears signed a multiyear global marketing deal with Pepsi-Cola Company on Tuesday that will find the 19-year-old singer and budding actress starring in Pepsi television commercials and performing on a Pepsi-sponsored worldwide tour, according to a press release from the soft drink company. "The chance to follow some of my heroes – some incredible performers – and create something new with the innovative people at Pepsi is very exciting for me," Spears said in the release. In addition to Jackson, Madonna and the Spice Girls, Spears also joins R&B legend Ray Charles, country superstar Faith Hill and soul diva Aretha Franklin among the ranks of Pepsi spokespeople. Spears will immediately begin working on commercials that will be an extension of the company's "The Joy of Pepsi" ads, which made their debut during the Super Bowl on January 28. Spears' first Pepsi commercial is scheduled to air March 25 during the Academy Awards. The terms of Spears' contract were not disclosed, though Reuters reports her earnings will likely eclipse the $5 million Jackson received for his "Pepsi – The Choice of a New Generation" commercials in 1984. Jackson's sponsorship attracted additional attention when the King of Pop was infamously burned during the filming of a Pepsi television ad. Spears' deal with Pepsi will not only include TV commercials, but also point-of-purchase materials, consumer promotions and hyperlinks to their respective web sites. Pepsi is not the first company to score Spears as a sponsor. She signed a marketing deal with Skechers footwear last year" (Corey Moss, MTV News, February 7, 2001). There had been some talk of Britney Spears "posing for PETA's ongoing "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign." However, this now appears to have been all talk. However, Spears can still be seen donning pleather on PETA's anti-leather web site. (dailynews.yahoo.com, December 16, 2001).

Santa's helper at Fashion Square, 16-year-old Kathy Brown, says children see images much more provocative than Britney's navel anytime they turn on television or walk across the Mall. Just next door to Santa's stand, in fact, a giant poster of a nearly naked blond woman persuaded Daily Progress writer Bryan McKenzie to devote one of his typically charity-or-motorcycle-focused columns to the evils of gratuitous sexy advertisements.

At that store, Express, a manager who asked not to be named eagerly points out that contrary to McKenzie's column, Express does sell lingerie. The store's decorations are dictated by corporate bosses, she says, and the local district manager is acking about removing the sign.

The manager suggests parents teach kids how to live in the world as it is, instead of badgering others to conform to their morality standards.

'I have a five-year-old who wants to dress like Britney Spears,' says the manager. 'I tell her that's show business, not real life, and that we cover up unless we're at the beach.'

Sitting in his manufactured North Pole, surrounded by nodding, robotic reindeer, Fashion Square Mall's Santa says he's tired of hearing moms complain.

'I thought it was disgusting and that Pepsi ought to be ashamed,' he says. 'But we have to give out whatever the Mall tells us to. I don't have any control over it. But I hear about it because I'm here.'

Every year, Santa - not his real name - watches the advertising get sexier and aimed at younger 'markets' (ad lingo for 'human beings'). And every year, people flock to the Mall, convinced that giving a gift requires buying a product.

In JC Penney, a slinky, shirtless model displays the latest fad - jeans that ride low on a girl's hips, revealing her brightly colored thong underwear. Santa laughs that 'plumber's crack' is now a fashion craze. Maybe the best thing, he suggests, is to teach kids to shrug off advertisers and concentrate on real life.

I tell the kids to eat their vegetables, say please and thank you,' says Santa. 'You've got to learn to laugh. You can't take yourself so seriously.'" (John Borgmeyer, C-Ville Weekly, December 18-24, 2001).

Editor's Note: The day this article came out, I traipsed down to Fashion Square Mall to score a Britney Spears Pepsi cup. No such luck. While they were in clear view wrapped in plastic over to the side, I was not after all having my picture taken.

Subsequently, I traversed over to Pepsi Place, where I was told that to procure such cup, I would need to go to an Amoco Service Station. So I traveled over to the Amoco across from Barracks Road Shopping Center. No cups there.

So, I hope that for those of you who are interested that the pictures of Britney Spears above will suffice.