In the mid-1990s, Pepsi ran a popular loyalty campaign called “Pepsi Stuff.” Every bottle or can came with Pepsi Points you could collect and redeem for free items like T-shirts and sunglasses. One TV ad took it further with a tongue-in-cheek twist: it showed someone flying a Harrier jet to school, advertising that you could get one for just 7 million Pepsi Points.A clever college student named John Leonard saw the ad and did the math. Since Pepsi allowed you to buy points for ten cents each, he realized he could “purchase” the points for about $700,000. He even got some investors to help fund it. Leonard sent Pepsi the required points, an order form, and a check—then waited for his jet.
Pepsi rejected his request, saying the ad was obviously a joke. Leonard sued them in court, arguing the ad constituted a real offer. But in 1999, Judge Kimba Wood dismissed the case, ruling that no reasonable person would think Pepsi seriously intended to give away a military fighter jet in a soda ad.
In the end, Leonard didn’t get the jet—but the case, Leonard v. PepsiCo, became legendary. It’s now regularly studied in law schools to teach about contracts, advertisements, and what a “reasonable person” can or can't reasonably believe.
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