John Leonard, the real person behind “Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?” did not get the promised Harrier jet and he refused to take the $1 Million settlement amount.
John Leonard grew up in a middle-class family in West Washington, had big hopes and desires, and thought he needed money to fulfill those desires.
The 48-year-old began doing odd jobs in his teenage years like working in a bike shop, as a paper boy, a local delivery boy, a glass cutter, and many more. He had interests in flying and being up in the mountains for some peace and quiet. John had filed a lawsuit against Pepsi when the commercial offered a Harrier jet for seven million points and Pepsi dismissed the bid as a joke. Pepsi offered him almost $1 million but he refused and wanted the jet.
There is a docuseries named Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? on Netflix based on the 1990s PepsiCo contest and the lawsuit of Leonard where the 20-year-old files go to the court against Pepsi for their misleading contest.
Did John Leonard Get Anything From Pepsi?
John Leonard did not get the Harrier jet from Pepsi. He was offered settlement fees of almost $1 million but John refused to take it.
The judge ruled in favor of Pepsi and John returned empty-handed and disappointed after being unsuccessful at the court.
The whole Leonard Vs. PepsiCo started in the 1990s when Pepsi offered a military-grade Harrier jet for the person who would have 7,000,000 points. There were also other items like baseball caps for 60 points, T-shirts for 80 points, and mountain bikes for thousands. A fountain drink was considered one point, a two-liter bottle was two points and a twelve-pack was worth of five points.
His initial plan was to store the cans in warehouses later, but his friend Todd Hoffman dismissed the plan and came across a huge loophole in the campaign. The fine print in the campaign catalog mentioned that the customers had to submit only 15 points that were collected by themselves and the rest could be bought for 10 cents. Todd gave the required capital of $700,008.50 to him seeing how much he wanted the jet.
The commercial did not have any message or notice saying that getting the jet was a joke. So when John was dismissed saying that the commercial was a joke and offered him a fistful of coupons for free Pepsi. Both he and his friend was very upset and filed a lawsuit against the company. They called upon a lawyer named Larry Schantz and the trial began.
The lawyer argued that Pepsi was obligated to give him the jet as it was clearly stated that was the prize and there was no fine print or disclaimer or it was a joke.
Pepsi offered both of them a settlement of $750,000 but they refused the money because he wanted the Harrier jet. Another lawyer, named Michael Avenatti then joined the team and attempted to bring public pressure to win in the court. However, the court did not work in their favor.
In the end, the judge ruled the court favored Pepsi and stated that a reasonable person would not think that the jet was attainable just by claiming the reward points.
They did not get the military-grade Harrier jet or the settlement fees that were offered before by Pepsi. However, they did make an impact as Pepsi changed the number of points needed to secure the free jet from 7,000,000 to 700,000,000 the first time and later changed it to the number followed by the saying Just Kidding. They lead to an era where disclaimers became an important part of commercials.
Where Is John Leonard Today?
After more than 20 years old the lawsuit between Leonard and Pepsi, he currently lives a happy and healthy life in Talkeetna, Alaska. According to The Cinemaholic, he lives with his wife, a Saint Louis, Missouri native named Dottie, and their son and daughter.
He works in law enforcement and emergency services in the National Parks Service. The 48-year-old has moved on from the past to bigger adventures and he still focuses on climbing which has been his passion from the early days.
His old friend Todd Hoffman is retired and battled cancer in the early 1990s which was successfully removed. He wants to travel and go on adventures. He prefers to lead a private life and maintain a low profile. Both of them are still as close as they were during their court case against Pepsi.
He does not regret his lawsuit against Pepsi even though he did not win as it has helped him to be where he is today. He states that as a 21-year-old young man he really thought that he would get the Harrier jet if he got the 7,000,000 points. He did not want any publicity or want to be famous. He really wanted the jet plane as he did not settle when almost $1 million was offered to him by Pepsi.
Pepsi, Where’s My Jet Netflix
Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? is a Netflix docuseries based on the true story and lawsuit of John Leonard and Pepsi in the 1990s.
The series revolves around a young 20-year-old man attempting to win a Harrier jet in Pepsi sweepstakes. The first season of the docuseries has four episodes.
The trailer starts with a part of the actual commercial of Pepsi’s campaign and shows John and Micheal Davis who plays the role of Leonard in the series. The trailer continues with Leonard giving his side of the story and there was no fine print saying that it was a joke. He just wanted the jet that was promised.
The story begins in 1996 when Coke and Pepsi were competing against each other. Coke was the number one brand so, Pepsi starts a campaign called Pepsi Stuff and the people can win sunglasses, jackets, T-shirts, mountain bikes, and maybe a Harrier jet.
John Leonard, a plane enthusiast, designs a plan to get enough points to get the jet. The docuseries documents the history of the young man suing Pepsi for their false advertisement.
The series features the actual people, John and Todd who were involved in the 1990s Pepsi campaign scandal. The docuseries released on Netflix on November 17, 2022, on a Thursday.