1996. The height of the cola wars. In an attempt to compete with Coke, Pepsi had the bright idea to launch its biggest (and most ambitious) campaign yet with “Pepsi Stuff.”
Featuring a Super Bowl commercial claiming anyone who collected a near-impossible seven million Pepsi points could win themselves a goddamn AV-8 Harrier II jet – one of the most advanced military aircraft at the time – it made the impact the brand was looking for.
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The only problem? Pepsi’s marketing execs severely underestimated the willpower and cunning of a 21-year-old college student named John Leonard. And as you’ll discover in the four-part Netflix documentary series Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?, taking a corporation at its word isn’t always the simplest of tasks.
Without giving too much away, young Leonard realised there was a massive ROI at hand: $700,000 worth of points could theoretically buy a sizable piece of military hardware retailing for approximately $23 million. So Leonard enlisted a few investors, including his mountaineering buddy Todd Hoffman, in pursuit of the grand prize.
“People say, ‘Well didn’t you want a t-shirt?’ and I say, ‘Well when there’s a Harrier out there for seven million Pepsi points, why not aim your sights a little higher?’” John Leonard previously told CBS News.
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When the seven million points were finally secured, Pepsi had the audacity to deny John Leonard’s request for his hard-earned AV-8 Harrier II jet. An ugly legal battle ensued involving the disgraced attorney Michal Avenatti. Proper Hollywood stuff.
This upcoming docuseries has been directed by Andrew Renzi, who also co-produced alongside Andrew Corkin, Nick Boak, Theo James, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma, as well as Jordyn Wynn.
Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? arrives to Netflix later this month on November 17th – check out the trailer above.
