The new Netflix documentary series Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? is a hit with critics, who have given it a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. The show is based on the true story of John Leonard, a college student who took PepsiCo to court over its Pepsi Stuff commercial which said that Pepsi Points could be exchanged for certain rewards.
Leonard was most interested in a Harrier jet that was worth 7 million Pepsi Points. Even though PepsiCo said the jet was there as a joke, there was no disclaimer in the ad. Leonard went after the jet and spent $700,000 on Pepsi Points to get it (with the help of his wealthy friend Todd Hoffman).
Decider’s Joel Keller says, “The filmmakers do a good job of putting this story into perspective.” “It’s silly and weird, but it shows what could happen if even big companies like PepsiCo and their advertising firm don’t close as many loopholes as they can. It’s cockiness to act as if no one would ever try to trade points for a fighter jet. But you knew that someone would try to use Pepsi’s mistakes to their own advantage.”
“Netflix often takes ideas way past where they can go, turning something that could have been a single 20/20 episode into a miniseries. I thought that would be the case here, but [director Andrew] Renzi keeps the whole thing lighter than most Netflix documentaries “Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com (opens in a new tab) says this.
“It has a playful tone that matches the Pepsi ads of the time, with pop music from the ’90s and fun things like making every interview subject take the Pepsi Challenge, which is a blind taste test of Pepsi and Coke. Renzi is a great interviewer, and the fact that Leonard and Hoffman are so easy to like helps a lot, even if Pepsi doesn’t agree.”
“Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?, a Netflix documentary series, tries to capture an era of marketing that pushed exclusivity. The show is part “Cola Wars” and part “Mad Men” for the millennial generation. It’s also incredibly addicting, even if it’s two episodes too long “M.N. Miller writes for Ready Steady Cut “The case changed the course of history, and it is now taught in US law schools and legal textbooks. It’s a waste of time as television, and it’s a very gentle documentary “The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan says this.
“Even if it is a legal case, a David and Goliath case in which Goliath has just as good of an argument as David and the moral stakes are so low as to be meaningless is not the stuff of legend. But if you want to watch something like a can of sweet fizz and empty calories, this will go down fine.”
You can now watch all four episodes of Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? online. If you’re looking for more shows to watch, check out our guide to the best Netflix documentaries.
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