Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? is a documentary miniseries directed by Andrew Renzi.
In four episodes we are told the incredible story of a young man, and his friend and business partner, who developed a business plan to win a Harrier fighter jet for 7 million Pepsi points.
Premise
Pepsi ran a marketing campaign in the mid 90’s, offering Pepsi paraphernalia in exchange for Pepsi points. In one of the ads, it showed a young lad get out of a fighter jet, below was written “Harrier Fighter Pepsi 7,000,000 points”, without fine print, no disclaimers, just that phrase – hence, an offer. The ad did not go ignored by a 20-year-old, John Leonard, who took them up on the “offer”. Now, Pepsi was in a bind.
Series Review
A truly amusing doc series, with colorful characters and a good story to tell. It is a lively number, as the characters themselves. It includes interviews with Pepsi’s former CEO and executives, Pepsi’s then Creative Director, Cindy Crawford, and the two then young men – the protagonists, John Leonard (20) and Todd Hoffman (40), who took Pepsi up on their advertised offer, and the mothers of these two lads, and of course, their lawyer, Larry Schantz – reminiscent of Joe Pesci‘s “Vinny”, and then… enter Mike Avenatti, then a law student….
Both adventurers, and mountain climbers, Leonard and Hoffman had forged a strong friendship that turned into a business collaboration to obtain the Pepsi Harrier Jet. Once they had decided to go ahead with the plan of acquiring the Harrier Jet with the Pepsi points, nothing would stop them.
The story itself is so exceptional it is worth telling; and in this series it is relayed at a fast pace, with a lighthearted attitude, and it is quite humorous in style; combining interviews, animated sequences, and archive footage.
The interviewees are interesting, and as they talk about the anecdote decades past, there is clearly enough distance for them to be able to laugh at the whole situation.
Our Opinion
We definitely recommend this four part doc series. The story is extraordinary and funny in and of itself, and the characters involved make for amusing interviewees.
Release Date
November 17, 2022