
Pepsi, Where's My Jet?
2022 · Netflix · 40 min · 1 season
S01E04 · Landing the Plane
Thu, 17 Nov, 11:00 pm
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.
About
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.
Episodes
- E01
The Kid from Seattle
Thu, 17 Nov· 37 minSeven 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.
- E02
Let's Make a Deal
Thu, 17 Nov· 43 minJohn and Todd perfect their scheme. They send in their Pepsi Points and their check, and wait. The Pepsi executives scramble, and the lawyers descend.
- E03
The Bad News Bears
Thu, 17 Nov· 37 minThe 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.
- E04
Landing the Plane
Thu, 17 Nov· 41 minInterviewees 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.



