Pepsi, Where's My Jet?(New Netflix Documentary)

[BillsPride12]

Has anybody seen this yet?  The story about John Leonard and his buddy Todd Hoffman's battle with Pepsi over a Harrier Jet.  Apparently this was a major news story in the 90s but I really had no recollection of it but I also didn't watch the news much in the 90s.  Was this really that big of a story at the time?  I thought the Documentary was pretty cool and hope Documentaries start trending this way about more everyday people than just celebrities and professional athletes.  Worth a watch if you're looking for something interesting to watch.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23022276/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

[QCity]

I wouldn't say it was a major news story. I think most people just shook their head at the whole thing because no reasonable person would believe Pepsi was going to award a $30M fighter jet. This was the decade when lawyers began to sue for anything just to get attention in the media.

[CoudyBills]

10 minutes ago, QCity said:

I wouldn't say it was a major news story. I think most people just shook their head at the whole thing because no reasonable person would believe Pepsi was going to award a $30M fighter jet. This was the decade when lawyers began to sue for anything just to get attention in the media.

Pepsi got lucky

[BillsPride12]

48 minutes ago, CoudyBills said:

Pepsi got lucky

I really thought by the end he was going to get the Jet.  Gotta give the kid some credit for showing ambition

[Doc]

Could Pepsi/a private citizen even be allowed to buy/own a Harrier jet?

[loyal2dagame]

32 minutes ago, Doc said:

Could Pepsi/a private citizen even be allowed to buy/own a Harrier jet?

The documentary covers this. 

The short answer is yes.

[Doc]

41 minutes ago, loyal2dagame said:

The documentary covers this. 

The short answer is yes.

Thanks. Wasn’t gonna bother watching the documentary because I thought it was a ridiculous lawsuit to begin with, and it was an obvious joke when presented on the commercial.

[Augie]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

Could Pepsi/a private citizen even be allowed to buy/own a Harrier jet?

 

My Home Owners Association has a specific ban on Harrier jets. They don’t like parking in the road overnight, either. 

[Doc]

1 minute ago, Augie said:

My Home Owners Association has a specific ban on Harrier jets. They don’t like parking in the road overnight, either. 

You need to move, then 

[LeGOATski]

36 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

My Home Owners Association has a specific ban on Harrier jets. They don’t like parking in the road overnight, either. 

HOAs are the worst

[Just Jack]

21 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

HOAs are the worst

 

That comment reminded me of this story...

 

AITA For A ***** Situation : AmItheAsshole (reddit.com)

[boyst]

Pepsi had one of the largest naval fleets in the history of the world at one point. Honestly, that is a much more interesting story than this nonsense nitwit kid. 

[Nextmanup]

On 11/21/2022 at 6:29 PM, BillsPride12 said:

Has anybody seen this yet?  The story about John Leonard and his buddy Todd Hoffman's battle with Pepsi over a Harrier Jet.  Apparently this was a major news story in the 90s but I really had no recollection of it but I also didn't watch the news much in the 90s.  Was this really that big of a story at the time?  I thought the Documentary was pretty cool and hope Documentaries start trending this way about more everyday people than just celebrities and professional athletes.  Worth a watch if you're looking for something interesting to watch.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23022276/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

So I looked into this at Netflix and got sucked right in a few nights ago.

 

Ended up binge watching all four episodes!  

 

Thanks for mentioning this as I don't think I would have seen it otherwise.

 

Overall, it was enjoyable.  It was slow to start, and paced to fill out 4 episodes whereas the story could have been told in 2, maybe 3.  But it was interesting and the people involved were interesting.

 

I think I enjoyed the friendship aspect of the 2 guys who mountain climb together more than the story about the Harrier.  Just focusing on their friendship, how they came to know one another, how the one guy beat cancer twice, and how they lived out dreams of climbing mountains together could have been a good documentary in its own right.

 

Anyway, thanks!

 

 

[BillsPride12]

7 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

So I looked into this at Netflix and got sucked right in a few nights ago.

 

Ended up binge watching all four episodes!  

 

Thanks for mentioning this as I don't think I would have seen it otherwise.

 

Overall, it was enjoyable.  It was slow to start, and paced to fill out 4 episodes whereas the story could have been told in 2, maybe 3.  But it was interesting and the people involved were interesting.

 

I think I enjoyed the friendship aspect of the 2 guys who mountain climb together more than the story about the Harrier.  Just focusing on their friendship, how they came to know one another, how the one guy beat cancer twice, and how they lived out dreams of climbing mountains together could have been a good documentary in its own right.

 

Anyway, thanks!

 

 

You're welcome!  Although I agree it was stretched out longer than it needed to be I thought it was a pretty interesting story and out of the ordinary so figured I would throw it out here on the boards.  The two guys both seemed to be pretty decent guys and had cool personalities, like I referenced in my original post I would like to see more Docs on regular Joe's as long as the story is interesting 

[Tierlifer]

I watched last night (all 4). Similar theme and time frame era as the McMillions one on HBO. I liked that one better but the Pepsi one was pretty fun and a good watch. I’m the same age as the kid that was going for the Harrier so I found it pretty relatable. I consider myself the king of 90s pop culture but had completely forgotten about this promotion so it was a nice trip down memory lane. 
 

Also I work for Coke so any cola war related stuff I’m going to love! Haha. Especially the Pepsi Challenge they did with the cast 

[BillsPride12]

1 hour ago, Tierlifer said:

I watched last night (all 4). Similar theme and time frame era as the McMillions one on HBO. I liked that one better but the Pepsi one was pretty fun and a good watch. I’m the same age as the kid that was going for the Harrier so I found it pretty relatable. I consider myself the king of 90s pop culture but had completely forgotten about this promotion so it was a nice trip down memory lane. 
 

Also I work for Coke so any cola war related stuff I’m going to love! Haha. Especially the Pepsi Challenge they did with the cast 

On top of the legal stuff that was interesting...the 90s pop culture/Nostalgia stuff is always fun.  It made me think of how much more fun commercials used to be than they are now.

[Bray Wyatt]

Just finished watching this, it was a great trip down memory lane for me. The commercials, the Pepsi point promotion, two friends and I saved up all of the points we could find to buy stuff. Then when my one friend left for the summer for Oklahoma, we split the points just between us and bought stuff lol

 

I remember riding bikes to buy Pepsi big slams at the convenient store close by and getting excited about any bigger than normal points. The nostalgia made me like it more than maybe I should, I did find it informative as I wasn’t really aware of it at my age then

[Nextmanup]

On 11/24/2022 at 9:17 PM, Tierlifer said:

I watched last night (all 4). Similar theme and time frame era as the McMillions one on HBO. I liked that one better but the Pepsi one was pretty fun and a good watch. I’m the same age as the kid that was going for the Harrier so I found it pretty relatable. I consider myself the king of 90s pop culture but had completely forgotten about this promotion so it was a nice trip down memory lane. 
 

Also I work for Coke so any cola war related stuff I’m going to love! Haha. Especially the Pepsi Challenge they did with the cast 

As an aside, and since you mentioned it...

 

I was amazed at how many people could not distinguish Coke from Pepsi throughout the documentary.

 

I have been saying for 30 years that both colas are excellent, but very different.

I enjoy each one, but my God, they are not hard to tell apart.

Pepsi is a lighter, sweeter sort of flavor.

Coke is a darker, stronger, sort of flavor.

 

Similar but different--and extremely distinguishable! 

 

 

[Process]

Finished it last night. Was entertaining but man what a lame ending, lol.

[davefan66]

On 11/22/2022 at 5:54 PM, boyst said:

Pepsi had one of the largest naval fleets in the history of the world at one point. Honestly, that is a much more interesting story than this nonsense nitwit kid. 

I thought you were joking.  Interesting for sure