The Pepsi Harrier Jet Ad That Sparked a Lawsuit
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, in the 1990s, Pepsi ran a commercial that joked a teenager could earn a Harrier jump jet, the pride of the Marine Corps, through Pepsi Points. The ad listed the jet at seven million points. Most viewers laughed and moved on. One college student did not.
John Leonard gathered investors, calculated the math, and tried to claim the jet. When Pepsi refused, the dispute became Leonard v. PepsiCo, one of the most talked-about contract law cases of its era. Journalist Sean Kernan shares the story of the Pepsi Harrier jet lawsuit that still shows up in law school classrooms today.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. |
| 0:18.4 | And we tell stories about everything here on this show, including your stories. Send them to Our American Stories and we tell stories about everything here on this show including |
| 0:21.4 | your stories send them to our American Stories.com they're some of our favorites |
| 0:26.7 | and up next a curious case of contract law in 1996 one John Leonard sued Pepsi |
| 0:34.1 | over a promise that he saw as reneged on. |
| 0:39.2 | But that's only half of the story. |
| 0:43.1 | Here's our own Monty Montgomery to help tell the rest. |
| 0:48.4 | Court cases are serious business. |
| 0:51.5 | If I put this knit cap on, who am I? |
| 0:54.0 | I'm still Johnny Cocklin with a knit cap. |
| 1:02.0 | Court cases are important. If Douglas tough me, you will not be a happier, honor. You know what? If Douglas beats you to a pulp, I'll be delighted. Get out. |
| 1:06.5 | And there's one court case in the 90s that was truly astounding. And no, it's not the People versus OJ. I'm talking about Leonard versus PepsiCo Inc. Here's Sean Kernan of Medium with this dramatic story of deceit, twists and turns, and contract law. In 1996, Pepsi rolled out one of its Drink Pepsi Get Stuff campaigns. |
| 1:36.3 | It was your usual promotion where you get points for purchases that you can later use. |
| 1:41.3 | The TV ad targeted teenage and early 20s customers. |
| 1:45.0 | It showed all these cool things you could win with Pepsi points. |
| 1:48.0 | They showed a kid wearing a Pepsi t-shirt, 75 Pepsi points. |
| 1:52.0 | He was wearing a leather jacket that was 1450 points. |
| 1:56.0 | He had sunglasses on that were 175 points. |
| 2:00.0 | They then boasted, the more Pepsi you drink, the more great stuff you're going to get. |
| 2:04.6 | Then it escalated. |
... |
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