Snapple, the company that claims to make the "best stuff on Earth," is sponsoring two off-Broadway theaters at Broadway and 50th Street, calling the the Snapple Theater Center. The NY Times' reports that the concession stands to each of the 199-seat theaters will server "Cadbury Schweppes beverages that, in addition to Snapple, will include brands like Canada Dry, Dr Pepper, Mott's, 7Up and Schweppes." And from the look of the Cadbury Schweppes-provided (they own Snapple) image, it looks like Snapple only cars about having the huge sign above the theaters - their artists/designers seem to have used an existing image of the dreary corner and slapped a sign on it. No optimistic "artist's rendering" of a prettier corner for the press!" While people can debate the merits or demerits of corporate sponsorship on Broadway or off-Broadway, Gothamist is glad that arts are being supported. What got in our craw was when Cadbury Schweppe's VP of marketing said, "As the official beverage of New York City, it's important for us to be present and visible in the city." Um, no one actually voted on Snapple being the "official beverage of NYC" (Gothamist would guess the official beverage would be coffee, NYC tap water, or hot dog water), unless you count the city's fishy deal with Snapple to provide vending machines in city schools much to the dismay of children's teeth enamel. However, Snapple has also said that Staten Island stinks, showing a true, if misguided sense, of the city's borough hierarchy.

When Gothamist first skimmed this story, we had hoped Snapple was opening up a Times Square lab where you could develop your own customized Snapple flavor. But theater is good too - here are Gothamist's theater posts.