External Rating46%
202240 minEnded

Pepsi, Where's My Jet?

Network:Netflix

Previous Episode

S01E04 - "Landing the Plane"

Aired on Nov 17, 2022, 12:00 PM

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Description

The year was 1996, and the cola wars were raging. Despite Pepsi's celeb-soaked advertisements, Coke still held the bigger market share, so the second-place brand decided to roll out their biggest campaign ever: Called "Pepsi Stuff," it featured a soon-to-be infamous commercial implying that if you just bought enough of their products, you could use "Pepsi Points" to purchase sunglasses, leather jackets… and maybe a Harrier jet? Pepsi execs assumed the astronomical "price" of the military plane was set high enough to indicate it was a joke, but college student John Leonard saw it as a challenge, and decided to call their bluff. Enlisting the help (and funding) of mountaineering buddy Todd Hoffman, Leonard hashed out a plan to score the grandest prize of all – even if it never existed in the first place. Shot in a rollicking, irreverent style and soaked in the music and culture of the mid-'90s, Pepsi, Where's My Jet? sits down with Leonard, Hoffman, the commercial's creative team, and a truly unexpected cast of tangentially-involved public figures to tell the legendary tale of the kid who sued Pepsi for a fighter jet, and became the hero of a new generation.

Details

Status
Ended
Language
English
Runtime
40 min
Premiered
November 17, 2022
Ended
November 17, 2022

External Links

Episodes (1 Season · 4 Episodes)

The Kid from Seattle

Seven million Pepsi Points to win a fighter jet? It should have been impossible. But 20-year-old John Leonard sees the ad in 1995 — and finds a loophole.

Nov 17, 2022

37 min

Let's Make a Deal

John and Todd perfect their scheme. They send in their Pepsi Points and their check, and wait. The Pepsi executives scramble, and the lawyers descend.

Nov 17, 2022

43 min

The Bad News Bears

The Pentagon has to issue a statement. Scammers start to circle. To win this case, John needs to go to trial in the court of public opinion.

Nov 17, 2022

37 min

Landing the Plane

Interviewees recall a 1992 campaign in the Philippines that went so awry, it led to riots and deaths. In 1999, John's court battle reaches a conclusion.

Nov 17, 2022

41 min

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