Dude, Where's My Pepsi Jet? With Kel Mitchell and Tehran Von Ghasri | 31

The Big Flop

Wondery

Society & Culture, Comedy, Business

4.6 • 884 Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the sugar-fueled '90s, Pepsi had one goal: win the Cola Wars. But when it launched “Pepsi Stuff", an ambitious promotion that encouraged people to buy Pepsi and redeem points for prizes, they overlooked their own fine print. When they promised a military-grade plane for less than it was worth "as a joke," Pepsi never imagined somebody might try to actually snag it. After an enterprising dude from Seattle gamed the points system, Pepsi was on the hook for…a jet.

Kel Mitchell (Kenan & Kel, Good Burger 2) and Tehran Von Ghasri (The Persian Bachelorette) join Misha to pop the lid on Pepsi Stuff.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the Big Flop early and ad-free.
0:05.3	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:15.0	In a fancy minimalist C-suite office high above Madison Avenue, an ad man named Jeff Mordos is patting himself on the back.
0:31.4	He's just launched a huge new campaign with Pepsi, and it's a hit.
0:41.5	Jeff is the chief operating officer for the hot-shot global ad agency, BBDO, and they've been turning Pepsi into the cola of choice for a new
0:49.9	generation. BBDO's ads are funny, eye-catching, bizarre, and star-studded.
0:58.0	Most importantly, they're getting people to drink more Pepsi.
1:02.6	This year, under the direction of BBDO, Pepsi is taking a big gamble on their newest
1:09.1	promotion, the Pepsi Stuff catalog.
1:12.6	There are all sorts of cool items in the catalog, blue-tinted sunglasses, a duffel bag that
1:19.2	looks like a soda can, and thirsty fans can only get those things if they drink Pepsi
1:25.0	and collect enough points to redeem them.
1:28.7	BBDO has whipped up a really clever ad for the campaign, playing on some of the biggest
1:35.2	blockbuster hits of the day. The commercial looks like an action movie, where a cool kid
1:41.3	who's decked out in Pepsi merch lands a hovering harrier jet in front of his school.
1:47.3	The jet isn't actually in the catalog, but the commercial says it costs 7 million Pepsi points.
1:54.7	Good thing that's completely insane and unattainable, right?
1:59.9	Jeff and the BBDO crew just think it's hilarious.
2:04.0	Most importantly, sales are up.
2:06.5	Time for another whiskey in the lounge to celebrate the success.
2:10.7	Jeff grabs his things, but the phone rings.
2:14.0	He answers.
	...

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