Liquid Death Blasts A Controversial Pepsi Commercial By Giving Away A Real Jet

If you were around when "The Oregon Trail" and "Gizmos & Gadgets!" were tearing it up on school computers, then you might remember a certain Pepsi commercial involving a jet. In 1996, PepsiCo, Inc. began heavily promoting its loyalty program at the time, which was built around buyers earning "Pepsi Points" and trading them in for physical items. One of the company's ads, which now has to be considered one of the most controversial commercials of all time, featured the program in action. Want a Pepsi T-shirt? Seventy-five Pepsi points, please. A leather jacket? That will be 1,450 points. Oh, you want a McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II? Well, that will be 7 million points. At least, that's what the end of the commercial heavily implied.

A national story broke out when John Leonard, a 21-year-old college student, realized that Pepsi technically allowed interested participants in simply buying the points for $0.10 apiece instead of relying on the required labels attached to certain Pepsi products. This meant that technically, the Harrier presented on the Pepsi commercial would be around $700,000. Leonard, after rallying a group of investors, ended up writing a check to PepsiCo, Inc. for the jet. The company declined him and quickly altered the commercial to show that the jet was actually 700 million Pepsi points. A lawsuit ensued (Mr. Leonard really wanted that jet), but in 1999, the State of New York sided with Pepsi, with one of the primary reasons being that its commercial was very frivolous in nature.

So, why does this matter now? Well, decades later, this commercial — and the whole ordeal it caused — is still remembered, with a modern-day company now taking direct potshots at Pepsi by actually offering up a real jet in its upcoming promotional loyalty program.

Liquid Death, a canned water brand that like to boasts how it will help "murder your thirst," has just revealed that it will be giving away a real jet — a L-39 Aero Jet, "The Dehydrator," to be exact – this summer. The promotion teaser piggybacks off the Pepsi scandal from the '90s to let viewers know that the company is indeed serious about the jet. Liquid Death is quick to let everyone know it is totally not like that "soda company" from back in the day.

According to Liquid Death, "All you have to do is go into a physical store and buy as much Liquid Death as you can. Then, text a picture of the qualified receipt. Every can you buy gets you an additional entry. So every 8-pack gets you 8 entries, every 24-pack, 24 entries, etc. Max 400 entries per person." No purchase is necessary, and those interested in participating can check out the contest's official rules here. Participants must be 18 years or older.

The jet isn't the only prize the company is offering. It's advertising that a winner would also get a free year's worth of Liquid Death and six months of free hangar space for their new jet. Not interested in all the hassle of owning a jet? Not to worry, Liquid Death is offering an alternate prize of $250,000 while letting potential winners keep the flight helmet and the year's supply of Liquid Death. This cash prize will likely appeal to many. After all, the contest is already letting everyone know: "Pilot not included."

Still in a "commercial" mood? Be sure to check out the greatest Super Bowl commercials of all time and what some of them looked like before special effects.