When Pepsi offered an AV-8B Harrier Jump Jet in 1995 #shorts

In March of 1995, an advertisement saying that 7 million points would earn you an AV-8 B Harrier fighter jet ran on televisions as part of Pepsi's promotional loyalty program. John Leonard, a 21-year-old college student, saw this ad and quickly calculated that it would only cost $700,000 to purchase the Pepsi points he needed for the $37 million fighter jet. He then raised the money from five investors, sent Pepsi a check, and waited, but his jet never arrived! Pepsi responded by claiming the ad was a joke, but Leonard was not willing to accept it. He then sued PepsiCo. Public sentiment was decidedly in favor of Leonard getting his Harrier jet, but the Southern District of New York would be the decider in the end, and It ruled in favor of Pepsi. The court concluded that no sane person could have thought that the company really planned to deliver an aircraft valued at about $37 million for $700,000. In a later version of the ad, Pepsi increased the number of points required from 7 million to 700 million. Pepsi, Where's My Jet? A Netflix documentary about the incident premiered on November 17, 2022.

#shorts #youtubeshorts #pepsi #harrier

[Bigmangh]

This guy have brains 🧠…. I think Pepsi paid a lot to the Justice Department to win this case…

[hxgames]

This is why u never advertise people that u cant give them

[pokeybit]

Me: a coke please
Them: is Pepsi okay?
Me: is monopoly money okay?

[brandongardner]

Joke or not, that is false advertisement. SMH

[anubis]

When False Advertisement was actually a law just to be overturned by a corporation.

[playhillk]

Pepsi probably bribed the judge for less

[Matt_JJz]

Can Pepsi stop being involved in the military business for 5 seconds. Almost bought an entire fleet of warships and offered a fighter jet?

[Randomfactsofwar]

Give the man his jet, okay. GIVE HIM HIS JET!

[mpireone]

Talk about a kick to the balls then again by a NFL punter, he not only lost the case but had to pay back $700, 000 to the lenders

[rlltd]

Really
Do not underestimate AMERICANS AT WE WILL ANSWER THE

[wolfkin]

Lesson learned dont talk shit if you cant back it up....where is his Harrier jet? They should have covered his 700k minimum

[NBC_]

It seems that PepsiCo has committed false advertisement and, the courts decision saying “no sane person would believe they’d deliver the jet” sounds like defamation of character to me

[jessespring]

This reminds me of the stripper who joined a wet t shirt contest in hopes of winning a brand new Toyota, but at the end of the competition she got a life sized toy yoda instead of the car

[luegordon]

Awesome aircraft!
People, should refrain from placing ads that include misrepresentations. Hope it'll never be misused if he gets it. 😊

[Jasonmh]

What is he gonna do with the AV-8B Sea harrier
Cause you need alot of money to maintain and a place to store

[Ramo]

Don't say it if you don't mean it. Ps Pepsi payed the judge in favor

[senorpepper]

I would of been 13. I remember doing the math at the time, didn't take a genius 7 million cans of pepsi shouldn't be able to buy a harrier.

[Rashed]

Didn’t someone sue red bull for advertising that red bull gives u wings and won? This is false advertising.
Also didn’t the guy collect all the points?

[utubercouchvegetable]

If I were a lawyer I'd have gotten him his jet. Isnt this america? With the way the cola wars were goin you'd swear at least coke had a navy

[netsimam]

Pepsi: Get your Harrier!
🤓: Well i will get this by subtracting the amount neede-