We’ve all seen those adverts on TV that make outrageous promises, the ones you watch and just laugh, thinking, abeg, who go believe this one? But every now and then, someone decides to take things literally. That’s exactly what happened when Pepsi ran a commercial in the ‘90s claiming that with enough Pepsi Points, you could win yourself a fighter jet. While most people ignored it and moved on, one smart and determined young man looked at that ad and thought, Why not? And just like that, John Leonard, an ordinary business student, took on Pepsi in one of the most unbelievable legal battles of all time.

Back in the 1990s, Pepsi’s advertising was one of the best in the world. It was fun, loud, and always trying to convince everyone that drinking Pepsi would make you the coolest person on earth. So, they launched this campaign where you could collect Pepsi Points from the bottles and cans you bought and then trade them in for merch like T-shirts, sunglasses, and leather jackets. All of these cost between 150 and 2000 Pepsi points.

But then they offered too much. In one advert, Pepsi showed a teenager flying a military Harrier jet to school, landing on the school field and feeling like the best person in his class. The caption said, “Harrier Jet — 7 million Pepsi Points.”

Now, for most people, that was obviously a joke. But John Leonard, a 21-year-old business student from Washington, didn’t see it that way. He saw an opportunity. He concluded that if they said it in the ad, and if they didn’t write any small print saying “just kidding,” why couldn’t he take them seriously? John sat down, did the math, and realized that collecting seven million Pepsi Points by drinking Pepsi alone would be impossible unless he wanted to drown in soda. 

But here’s the loophole, the Pepsi Points catalogue allowed you to purchase additional points at 10 cents per point. So, if he could raise $700,000, he could “buy” the points and claim his fighter jet.

That was when John got serious. He brought in a friend and investor, Todd Hoffman, who helped raise the money. They put together a formal order, sent a cheque for $700,008.50 (the extra $8.50 covered shipping and handling), and mailed it all to Pepsi along with their claim for the Harrier jet.

At first, Pepsi laughed at the mail. They sent back a letter saying the commercial was a joke and offering him coupons for more Pepsi as a consolation. But John wasn’t done with them. He knew what he was doing, and he took Pepsi to court, arguing that their advert was a clear, legally binding offer.

The court case, Leonard v. PepsiCo, Inc., 88 F. Supp. 2d 116 (S.D.N.Y. 1999), became one of the most unusual legal battles in advertising history. John argued that Pepsi made a legitimate offer that he accepted. But Pepsi’s lawyers argued that no reasonable person would believe they were giving away a military jet for buying soda. 

The court agreed with Pepsi, stating that the commercial was obviously meant to be humorous and that no objective person could interpret it as a serious offer. The judge even pointed out that, apart from being ridiculous, the Harrier jet was military equipment that couldn’t be sold to civilians.

John lost the case, but he became the legend of the man who dared to ask, “Where’s my jet?.” Today, his story is told in documentaries, law textbooks, and marketing classes around the world. It’s a classic reminder that sometimes, companies need to be careful with their jokes, and sometimes, you’ve just got to admire someone bold enough to test the boundaries.

Written By

Umm-Kulthum Abdulkareem