--- title: "That time someone sued Pepsi because they didn’t give him a Harrier jet" date: "2018-04-02" modified: "2020-10-22" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/that-time-this-guy-sued-pepsi-because-they-didnt-give-him-a-marine-corps-harrier-jet/" categories: - "History" --- # That time someone sued Pepsi because they didn’t give him a Harrier jet ![]() A late-1990s television spot jokingly priced a U.S. Marine Corps Harrier jet as a possible "Pepsi Points" prize -- at the mere cost of 7,000,000 Pepsi Points – that's 16.8 million cans of Pepsi. --- "Tens of millions of Americans, and people around the world saw the spot, got the joke, and laughed," [John Harris of Pepsi-Cola told CBS News]() in 2015 flashback story. ![]() Most of the TV-watching public may all have laughed (or at least smiled) at the idea of a high school student doing the Harrier's trademark vertical landing at this high school, but John Leonard wasn't playing around. No, Leonard didn't buy 16.8 million cans of Pepsi, but the 21-year-old did send in 15 Pepsi Points and a check for $700,008.50, which – according to the rules of the contest – Leonard could do. Pepsi refused to give the guy his jet. "Mr. Leonard saw the spot, hired business advisers and lawyers, and decided to take legal action," said the Pepsi spokesman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdackF2H7Qc [*Leonard vs. PepsiCo, Inc*](). was *the* case of 1996. The young business student accused Pepsi of fraud and breach of contract, while Pepsi argued the commercial's use of the jet was "just a joke." "People point out that this Pepsi generation they're trying to sell to is me," Leonard countered, but his lawsuit was thrown out in a [summary judgment](), saying "if it is clear that an offer was not serious \[to an objective, reasonable person\], then no offer has been made." The specific language of the court's ruling is as follows: *Plaintiff's understanding of the commercial as an offer must also be rejected because the Court finds that no objective person could reasonably have concluded that the commercial actually offered consumers a Harrier Jet.* Even if the plaintiff won the Harrier, it would have been a mere shadow of the Calvin and Hobbes-like boyhood dream John Leonard probably imagined. In [a 1996 article from CNN](), the Pentagon said it would have to completely demilitarize the jet before giving it to a civilian, which means its guns and air-to-air and air-to-ground missile capability would be out, as well as its vertical takeoff, which is pretty much is the whole reason behind going through so much trouble for a Harrier. The cost of using and maintaining a Harrier would be very expensive for the young man. The real price of a Harrier in 1996 was $33.8 million and used 11.4 gallons of fuel per minute. Leonard included $10 for shipping and handling, as per the contest rules. PepsiCo. returned Leonard's certified check. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()