PepsiCo Canada has teamed up with the CFL to give $50,000 to a good cause.

The Pepsi Refresh Project – CFL Challenge will see eight CFL players (one from each team) compete online to get their community’s initiative funding from PepsiCo Canada. The initiative is a standalone brand partnership that is part of the larger Refresh campaign, which launched in April.

The Challenge is being promoted to Canadians with spots on TSN, with which the CFL has an exclusive partnership, during broadcast games and SportsCentre in the mornings and evenings until the Grey Cup on Nov. 28. There will also be display on TSN.ca and CFL.ca, and promotion through the Pepsi, CFL and TSN social media pages. The target for the campaign is 18 to 45 year olds.

OMD in Toronto handled the media buy, and TSN did the creative with consulting from PepsiCo Canada’s AOR BBDO, also based in Toronto.

‘The goal of the entire program is to raise awareness of the Pepsi Refresh Project and to let Canadians know there’s this grant program in place where they can submit their own ideas and be awarded money based on a democratic voting process,’ Nathania Dashner, marketing manager, PepsiCo Canada, tells MiC.

‘There’s nothing like celebrity athletes to gain attention to a cause, and of all the athletes in Canada, whether it be hockey or football or basketball, we really felt the CFL and their players are doing the most in their communities, so it’s a natural fit to what the project represents,’ she elaborates.

The contestants will face public-voting based elimination rounds, taking place Oct. 29 and Nov. 12. Voting will close on Nov. 24 and the winning CFL player, and the organization he supports, will be announced during Grey Cup weekend in Edmonton.

The Pepsi Refresh Project promotion runs through the entire year with the goal of handing out $1 million in grants to individuals and organizations to execute plans to improve their communities.