Dear Jim Knows, I just purchased a 20 oz bottle Pepsi with the "Free Ride" promotion. Among the prizes listed is "$20 cash for gas". They must mean a credit or a discount. If it's cash, how can they enforce what it's for? -- Jeremy M.

First of all, if you've been following this blog for a while, you should know not to trust any Pepsi promotion that doesn't involve free downloads from iTunes. In this case, that's doubly true: it is cash, but it's new cash equipped with RFID technology; Pepsi is cooperating with the Department of Homeland Security in this thinly-disguised test of cash tracking. If you do not use the $20 cash for gas, you may find yourself getting a "free ride" to Guantanamo Bay. (This also explains why gas prices have been going up recently -- fewer transactions will be initiated with the special Pepsi cash-for-gas.)