By Leighton Levy——

Michael Jackson may be dead but his music is living large. Pepsi,Sony Music and the Michael Jackson Estate are, this year, having a global campaign to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his blockbuster album Bad.

Jackson, the King of Pop, died on June 25, 2009 after a stellar careerspanning more than four decades. He was 50 years old.

Bad was released on August 31, 1987 and sold an estimated 45 million copies worldwide while spawning five number-one singles in the United States alone. The album peaked at number one in seven countries. This 25th anniversary campaign is designed to celebrate the album’ssuccess.

In Jamaica, a number of activities are being planned. On the weekend the first of those plans was unveiled at Reggae Sumfest.

Through what was described as an ‘augmented reality’ experience, patrons demonstrated skills to dance like Michael Jackson. Once patrons stepped into a special Michael Jackson Sumfest booth and stepped on to a marked spot, their image was projected onto a screen where the image of Onaje Bell, the Jamaican Michael Jackson, appeared alongside them. Bell then started executing Michael Jackson dance moves. If the fan was able to effectively copy the moves they won a Michael Jackson prize.

Bigger vision

But a bigger dance element is on the horizon, explains Carlo Redwood, head of marketing at Pepsi Jamaica.

Redwood says the winner of a Michael Jackson dance competition being run through Facebook, can take home $50,000 and tickets for two to an all-expense paid trip to a Michael Jackson celebration event in New York on August 29.

The details of this competition are still being ironed out but dancers will be asked to submit video clips of their dance moves on Facebook. A panel of judges, including Bell will select the top six and the public will be asked to vote to select the winner of the trip to New York.

But not all Jackson fans are dancers and as such there are other ways for fans of the King of Pop to win Michael Jackson memorabilia.

Pepsi is partnering with Tastee Limited in a promotion where persons can win weekly prizes of Michael Jackson Limited Edition jackets, T-shirts that light up in the dark and cash.

Of course, to top it all off, three King of Pop celebration parties are being planned, with Kingston, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay each hosting a party.