And in their commercial they tossed in a joke about how if you collected seven million Pepsi Points they would hook you up with a Harrier jet. So, wearing the T‑shirt, shades, and leather jacket, the ad protagonist flies his Harrier Jet to school. (Wynn Aff. But a protest is not the right feeling. In a TV commercial that aired in 1995, the company jokingly included the Harrier as one of the prizes that could be received with a mere 7 million company points. We apologize for any misunderstanding or confusion that you may have experienced and are enclosing some free product coupons for your use. Pepsi can’t just market that it tastes good. Get stuff.” And according to the commercial, among the stuff you could get was a Harrier Jet. The Harrier jet in the Pepsi commercial is fanciful and is simply included to create a humorous and entertaining ad. The Jet Controversy Pepsi Jet Behold this amazing description of the commercial: The commercial opens upon an idyllic, suburban morning, where the chirping of birds in sun-dappled trees welcomes a paperboy on his morning route. While that sounds like a lot of points to get from drinking Pepsi products (roughly 190 Pepsis a day for 100 years), the company also allowed customers to purchase points for 10 cents a piece. Pepsi continued to air the commercial, but updated the cost of the Harrier Jet to 700 million Pepsi points. The fine print on the contest said that you could buy Pepsi Points for just $0.10 a piece without any purchase required of Pepsi products. Though Pepsi did end up changing the commercial to 700,000,000 points for the jet. In 1999, a Seattle man took a popular soft-drink company seriously when one of its commercials made an offer of a Harrier jet, the famous high-tech jump jet used by the U.S. Marines. The jet is shown with the subtitle seven million Pepsi points. B (second).) Without a … This caught the eye of 21-year-old John Leonard. That’s quite alot of soda to consume. As a business they did make an offer, but they didn’t give any specifics or regulations on the offer so they could have also given a model of the Harrier Jet. In that ad, Pepsi advertised a Harrier Jump Jet as a prize that can be redeemed for 7,000,000 points. Our client followed your rules explicitly… This is a formal demand that you honor your commitment and make immediate arrangements to transfer the new Harrier jet to our client. But, for comic effect, Pepsi “offered” a slightly bigger prize in a TV ad--the jet, initially available at the bargain price of 7 million points. The amount of Pepsi Points necessary to get the listed merchandise ranged from 15 for a “jacket tattoo” to 3,300 for a mountain bike. We have reviewed the video tape of the Pepsi Stuff commercial … and it clearly offers the new Harrier jet for 7,000,000 Pepsi Points. He then consistently collected 7 million points and sent Pepsi a plea to send him the Harrier jet. In a TV commercial that aired in 1995, Pepsi jokingly included the Harrier as one of the prizes that could be received with a "mere" 7 million Pepsi points. The commercial for the campaign also stated that a Harrier Jet would be given for 7 million points. Exh. It needs to be connected to a feeling. It seemed like a simple, tongue-in-cheek concept to the marketing wizards at Pepsi in 1995; entice the ‘Pepsi Generation’ into earning points to subsequently redeem them for rewards as part of their Pepsi Stuff campaign. Inspired by the commercial, Leonard set out to get a Harrier jet. No, Mr. Leonard will not get the Harriet jet from Pepsi. But the people making the commercial wanted to end it on some zany bit of “classic Pepsi” craziness. Leonard vs. PepsiCo, Inc. was the case of 1996. The PepsiCo order catalog did not include the Harrier jet. The young business student accused Pepsi of fraud and breach of contract, while Pepsi argued the commercial’s use of … We have reviewed the video tape of the Pepsi Stuff commercial… and it clearly offers the new Harrier jet for 7,000,000 Pepsi points. John Leonard Bought 7 million Pepsi Points Pepsi Refuses “no objective person could reasonably have concluded that the commercial actually offered consumers a Harrier Jet”. Pepsi's response was a bizarre one, where it said that the ad was a joke. John Leonard thought that sounded like a great deal. Pepsi initially refused his claim: “The Harrier jet in the Pepsi commercial is fanciful and is simply included to create a humorous and entertaining ad.” But Leonard … The commercial advertises the Jet for 7 million Pepsi Points, which roughly converts to $7 million. 1999), aff'd 210 F.3d 88 (2d Cir. The court described the relevant portion of the televised commercial as follows: The scene then shifts to three young boys sitting in front of a high school building. The court held that the commercial could not be taken seriously as it showed a teenager flying a fighter aircraft worth 23 million dollars to school, which clearly is unrealistic. The slogan was simple: “Drink Pepsi. We apologize for any misunderstanding or confusion that you may have experienced and are enclosing some free product coupons for your use. 2d 116, (S.D.N.Y. The controversy began when Pepsi Cola ran a television ad that seemed to offer a military Harrier vertical take-off jet to any customer that accumulated seven million points in a company contest. The campaign was simple, reported CBS News correspondent John Blackstone. PepsiCo advertised Pepsi Stuff in a Super Bowl ad in 1996. The Harrier jet in the Pepsi commercial is fanciful and is simply included to create a humorous and entertaining ad. A business student’s dream of claiming a $34 million Harrier jet from Pepsi went down in flames yesterday when a federal judge ruled it was not reasonable for him to … This one is best remembered because a business student found a loophole and ended up suing Pepsi for his Harrier Jet. Synopsis of Rule of Law. The Harrier jet in the Pepsi commercial is fanciful and is simply included to create a humorous and entertaining ad. John Leonard realized that if he obtained 15 points, and paid for the rest of the points with a cheque, the jet … The White House stated that the Harrier Jet would not be sold to civilians without "demilitarization," which, in the case of the Harrier, would have included stripping it of its ability to land and take off vertically. Related: That time someone sued Pepsi because they didn't give him a Harrier jet. “Sure beats the bus,” says the actor in the commercial, while landing on a campus in a computer animated jet. Coca Cola recently made a commercial as well that addressed social issues, and it was deemed a success. Defendant refused to deliver the harrier jet. Mr. Leonard responded via his lawyer: Your letter of May 7, 1996 is totally unacceptable. The TV commercial where the company advertised the points for stuff featured someone doing exactly that. We apologize for any misunderstanding or confusion that you may have experienced and are enclosing some free product coupons for your use. Additionally, will Mr Leonard get his Harrier jet Why or why not? The commercial for the campaign also stated that a Harrier Jet would be given for 7 million points. Exh. Our client followed your rules explicitly….This is a formal demand that you honor your commitment and make immediate arrangements to transfer the new Harrier jet … The Pepsi/Harrier Jet Case The Pepsi Harrier Jet commercial was obviously a humorous jest on behal of Pepsi. 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