Pepsi, ¿dónde está mi avión?

Netflix documentaries strength is about telling a story about people. Whether he should or not should have a jet is an interesting topic, but that's not why it should be a 4 episode documentary. It needs that time for us to cozy down and immerse ourselves in the lives of the participants.

This a lovely ride to the 90s. A ride to make us remember when we were kids and looked at unattainable dreams in catalogues that offered prices to kids who seld magazines or collected bottlecaps.

I never got close to the big prizes, but my heart is with the kid who went for it.

You sell dreams you should deliver on them.

As far as documentaries go this one felt less one sided than most. It certainly keeps you rooting for John and his twenty year old dream to win a falsely advertised Harrier jet. But in the same token it really is a David VS Goliath story, and keeps it relatively light hearted. Pepsi is never overtly painted as the bad guy, and their Ad execs and creatives are allowed to chime in. John and his friend Todd share a great bond over climbing and it's heartwarming at times, especially the fourth and last episode.

If you don't know the end of the story DON'T look it up. I'm really glad I didn't!

As a docu-series goes it's fun , and has the usual twists and turns. Not a bad way to relax for an evening or two. It is not your average overdramatic drama, is mostly narrated by the actual people, with only a few scenes recreated. I dug it because I was a kid when it happened and never know the outcome.

As Episode 1 of "Pepsi, Where's My Jet" (2022 release; 4 episodes ranging from 36 to 43 min) opens, we are introduced to the cutting edge ad campaigns by Pepsi in the 90s, as the cola wars raged between Coke and Pepsi. In 1995, Pepsi launched the "Drink Pepsi, Get Stuff" campaign, including "7,000,000 points: Harrier Fight" (the military jet that can take off and land vertically). John Leonard, a 20 yo from Seattle, facies that jet and starts plotting a way to collect 7,000,000 Pepsi points. At this point we are 10 min into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from documentary producer/director Andrew Renzo )("Ready For War"). Here he looks back at the stranger than fiction story of how a 20 yo took on Pepsi over the promise/offer to give a military jet if one collects 7 million Pepsi points. Of course I'm not going to spoil how it all turns out, but let's just say that lawyers get involved. Lots of lawyers. The tone of this mini-series is firmly tongue-in-cheek, none more so than by the protagonist, John Leonard, who lives to tell the tale now a quarter century later, and his "can you believe this happened to me?" way of talking to us. That said, even though it runs only 4 episodes, there is quite a bit of fluff in this, in particularly as Renzi reflects on Leonard's ongoing friendship to this day with another protagonist in the story. Totally unrelated: I kept thinking to myself that Pepsi's ad campaigns in those days were indeed very much cutting edge. Whatever happened to that? We need a new cola war!

"Pepsi, Where's My Jet?" premiered on Netflix last week, and all 4 episodes are now streaming. If you are in the mood for a light=hearted "stranger than fiction" documentary, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Although I was in my twenties in the nineties, I didn't know this story (I'm from Europe). That means I didn't know the ending. Some people here commenting on how it could've been told in five minutes... I don't agree! I simply don't. Since it eventually became highly discussed law book material, it was complex matter.

I have to give kudos to the makers who did an amazing job in storytelling, crazy montage, chosing the music and making this a four episode fun and interesting to watch documentary. I dated a documentary maker so I watched first hand that making a documentary is a hatd and lengthy process. The makers definitely succeeded in making a good one.

Back when advertising campaigns were very, very different, Pepsi launched an audacious, fun campaign, Pepsi points for prizes, 7 million, would get you a Harrier jet.....just fun right, not for John Leonard.

I have to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed this four part series, first of all, it was refreshing to watch something that didn't feature serial killers and murders, and it was good to learn of a story I knew nothing about.

Plenty of really interesting interviews, it's a basic David Vs Goliath story, the little guy (albeit one with some hefty financial backing,) taking on a big corporate business, Pepsi co.

It's arguably a little slow and repetitive in parts, and four episodes was definitely too long, but I was never bored, there were plenty of interesting bits, including the insight from Avenatti, and the story in The Philippines, Pepsi did not come out of this looking too good.

Very interesting, 8/10.