Ever wanted one of THESE?(http://api.ning.com/files/qwVL7mNryMQYoKkagV8eqHROJyeOWNBhkj0JmUZhoufDzTvwGRwH1t8jvwIIMQnNQYU5t1lCRbOdF4svw7j2fscd6rTv7vTY/harrier.jpg)
Pepsi Harrier Jet Commercial 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_n5SNrMaL8
A jocular Pepsi "offer" obligated them to provide a $33.8 million Harrier jet to a consumer who claimed it for $700,000.QuoteIn 1996 Pepsi Co ran a promotion through which consumers who collected empty Pepsi containers could earn "Pepsi Points" that could be redeemed for hats, jackets, bikes and other such merchandise. (To gain a "Pepsi Points" T-shirt, for instance, took 80 points, or the equivalent of 40 two-liter Pepsi bottles.)
Kicking off the "Buy Pepsi, Get Stuff" campaign was a playful television commercial showcasing a number of the items being offered. This controversial ad showed a suburban teen preparing for school and wearing a number of Pepsi items, such as a T-shirt, a leather jacket, and sunglasses. As the items were depicted, words at the bottom of the screen revealed how many "Pepsi Points" they cost. The commercial concluded with the teen landing a Harrier jet near a bike rack at his school and the plane's searing jet stream stripping a teacher to his underwear. The smug teen says, "Sure beats the bus," before the words "Harrier Fighter: 7,000,000 Pepsi Points" appeared on the screen.
Enter John Leonard, then a 21-year-old business student. Upon seeing that commercial and discovering he could purchase individual Pepsi points from the company for 10cent; each, he set about to get himself a Harrier at an unbelievable bargain rate.
QuoteOn 28 March 1996, Leonard forked over 15 original points plus a check for $700,008.50 raised from five investors for the remaining 6,999,985 points "plus shipping and handling" and demanded his jet. Pepsi laughed off the claim, pointing out the Harrier had never been offered in the Pepsi Points catalogue and was just in the commercial to provide a humorous completion to the piece.
"If we have to put disclaimers on spots that are obviously farces, where does it end?" Pepsi spokesman Jon Harris said.
Well, it didn't end there.
Leonard filed suit in Miami against Pepsi for breach of contract, fraud, deceptive and unfair trade practices, and misleading advertising. The issue then landed in federal court in Manhattan with Pepsi responding by asking the court for a declaratory judgment saying it did not have to give Leonard a Harrier.
In August 1999, the New York judge upheld Pepsi's case. "No objective person could reasonably have concluded that the commercial actually offered consumers a Harrier jet," U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood said.
Not that Leonard would have ended up with the full jet anyway if things had gone his way. The Pentagon quashed the promotion in September 1997 when it announced that these $33.8 million jets are not for sale in flyable shape. The Pentagon said any of the Marine aircraft would have to be "demilitarized" before being offered to the public (including disabling the Harriers' ability to take off and land vertically), which in this case would have meant both stripping them of their armaments and rendering them unable to fly.
Barbara "jet streamed" Mikkelson
SOURCE: http://www.snopes.com/business/deals/pepsijet.asp
What a story!! These companies are constantly having some type of contest to win big prizes. McDonalds always has some game on everything you buy. Little pull off tabs and the objective of the game is just to make the consumer keep spending and spending. I don't know of one person whose ever won anything from these corporate scams!! Now wait a second I have one free sodas already from Pepsi the one where you flip the cap and it says you Congratulations have won a free drink !!
The Judge dismissing the case and saying "No objective person could reasonably have concluded that the commercial actually offered consumers a Harrier jet," Obviously the judge is incorrect because this guy was able to raise over $700 Grand
This reminds me of "The People versus Larry Flynt" I absolutely think that false advertisement of this nature should be illegal its stealing. 8)
wow
too bad for the guy...
one of my all time favorite classes way back when was the psychology of selling
and how all kinds of things were used.. it totally opened my eyes to how i shop forever
especially for food
there is one ad running now for ..dang i can't remember who but they advertise breakfast
made with cage free eggs
every time i hear it it cracks me up and i say what about the chickens they came from..hahahahahah
ya gotta watch out for those ad folk...... ;D
I'd have to say that in the eyes of this reasonable person the advert did indeed offer a harrier jet, quite clearly, and since such things COULD be picked up military surplus at around that time, (we were decomissioning harriers a lot back then) he should have had a decent stab at winning his case.
I drink coke anyway.
Fruitbat!
Pepsi also implied that the big prize could be used to embarass and humiliate a disliked authority figure. Who doesn't secretly, or not secretly, want to do that?
Shasta
Quote from: sky otter on August 10, 2012, 03:20:24 PM
wow
too bad for the guy...
one of my all time favorite classes way back when was the psychology of selling
and how all kinds of things were used.. it totally opened my eyes to how i shop forever
especially for food
there is one ad running now for ..dang i can't remember who but they advertise breakfast
made with cage free eggs
every time i hear it it cracks me up and i say what about the chickens they came from..hahahahahah
ya gotta watch out for those ad folk...... ;D
Yeah its quite an eye opener but also very interesting!
When i worked in Av I sat in on a very large company here in Oz with some heavy hitting marketing consultants from the US. They gave a a very thourough PPT presentation about many cases in marketing over the century and the Marlboro Man stuck out more than any other example. They were orginally white tipped ciggys aimed at women IIRC... sales were not good and they flipped to creating the Cowboy Image.
I can safely say that sometime comps do pay out... I won a branded dart board from buying a case of beer a few months ago... it felt special being a winner for once LOL ;D
Quote from: Fruitbat on August 10, 2012, 05:42:18 PM
I drink coke anyway.
good thing I hear Pepsi is not good for the intelect :P
HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM (http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/04images/Astronauts/mars_rover_poof.jpg)
QuoteThe photo above is a group of NASA scientists wondering why the Mars Rover failed to operate properly. The problem is obvious to me. This photo of the Mars Rover scientists appeared with the story in a major news magazine a few years ago. I printed the picture, added my comments, and sent it to Coca Cola headquarters in Atlanta. In a short time I received a letter expressing their delight and stating that my submission now adorned one of the bulletin boards at the corporate offices. Enclosed were coupons for a couple of cases of Coke.
- by Ronn Wood
Funny! ;D
(you do win sometimes, i won 2 tubs of Ben & Jerry's) :P
I'd rather turn up in one of these...
We can buy a cheese here in england called "Ilchester Mexicana" it contains chillies and a nice cheddar and I REALLY like a bit from time to time. In fact so much that I sent them an email, by way of encouragement to keep making it. They sent us back about a kilo of their finest cheeses FOC. An unexpected win!
And yes Zorgon, I drink Coke cos it does not contain aspartame. I don't like the taste of aspartame, and apparently it works as a pernicious drug. And as we all know, NEVER take drugs which are being offered to you by someone you do not know and trust. ..
FB!
if it was drpepper,id own an aircraft carrier by now.
they should at least pay for dentures for me when my last few teeth finish rotting out.
Quote from: Fruitbat on October 30, 2012, 10:39:48 PM
And yes Zorgon, I drink Coke cos it does not contain aspartame.
I prefer Pepsi, and it doesn't have aspartame either. :)