/ FUN_HUB He laughs after coffee.

A fighter jet for lemonade?
One student took it seriously.

T-shirt, sunglasses, military fighter jet. The loyalty program sounded like a good joke until one student read the rules and pulled out a calculator. The advertising punch line became a story that ended up in court.

Business analysis, Customer experience

A little more stylish for school

Je rok 1995. Pepsi na americkom severozápade spustila kampaň „Pepsi Stuff“. Zbierajte body z obalov a vymieňajte ich za tričká, slnečné okuliare či koženú bundu. Klasika.

Lenže reklama potrebuje pointu. A tak v nej tínedžer priletí do školy vojenskou stíhačkou Harrier, ktorá kolmo na zem priamo pred školou. Škola ponúka na parkovanie aj stojany pre bicykle, no stojan pre stíhačku tu rozhodne nenájdete.

V závere reklamy na obrazovke so stíhačkou naskočí suma: 7 million points.

Toto grandiózne reklamné vyhlásenie malo diváka pobaviť.

Johna Leonarda však inšpirovalo k výpočtu, pretože si nevšimol žiadne iné oznámenie v reklame, ktoré by upravovalo podmienky získania tejto ceny.

True story

A calculator enters the scene

Mladý študent si najprv pomyslel, že potrebné body získa vypitím potrebného množstva plechoviek coly. Rýchlo mu však došlo, že na to by potreboval priveľa času aj limonády. Potom si náhodou prečítal katalóg k reklamenj kampani Pepsi Stuff a našiel kľúčovú vec: missing points could be purchased – Ten cents per point. K objednávke stačilo priložiť minimálne 15 originálnych bodov z plechoviek coly.

Leonard to prepočítal ešte raz. Medzi známymi zohnal peniaze a v marci 1996 poslal firme Pepsi objednávku, spolu s pätnástimi bodmi z plechoviek a šek na $700,008.50. The amount included the purchase of the remaining points and ten dollars for shipping and handling. He added one more item to the order form: 1 Harrier Jet.

T-shirts can be sent in an envelope. With a fighter jet, the issue of transportation is a bit more interesting.

And where do we book the fighter?

Predstavte si poradu, na ktorej nastane takáto situácia. Nasledujúca scénka je vymyslená, nie je to záznam skutočného rozhovoru:

Marketing: „Tá stíhačka mala byť pointa reklamy!“

Accounting: „Zákazník to zobral doslova. A poslal šek!“

Logistics: „Vie niekto, do akej krabice sa zmestí naozajstná stíhačka?“

Pepsi's real response was much more matter-of-fact. The check went back to Leonard with an explanation that the fighter jet was in the ad just as a joke. The Harrier wasn't among the prizes in the catalog.

Leonard však trval na svojom. A tak sa z kampane o tričká a okuliare stal súdny spor o vojenskú stíhačku za pôvodne 38 miliónov dolárov.

Na vernostný program reklamnej kampane, je to celkom slušný dolet, čo poviete?

The court put an end to the story

V auguste 1999 rozhodol federálny súd v New Yorku v prospech Pepsi. Sudkyňa Kimba Wood rozhodla, že reklama nebola záväznou ponukou lietadla. Prihliadla na jej zjavne zveličený, humorný ráz a poznamenala, že stíhačka, ktorú by si Leonard týmto spôsobom zaobstaral za 700-tisíc dolárov, je obchod príliš dobrý na to, aby bol pravdivý.

Pepsi v nových verziách reklamného spotu medzitým zmenila výšku potrebnú pre získanie lietadla na 700 million points and later an addition that it was a joke.

At a price of ten cents per point, the plane went from roughly $700,000 to $70 million. A clever way to update your loyalty program: just add one zero. Here, two.

Borrow Leonardo's calculator before launching your campaign

The story can also be read as a meeting of two worlds: a creative idea and the rules by which the offer is supposed to work. The most interesting questions arise when you look at them together. Therefore, before launching your own campaign, go through the entire customer journey. Consider the ad, the terms, and the order as a whole.

Then ask yourself four questions:

What exactly can a customer understand from an advertisement as a promise?
What is the most advantageous procedure that the rules allow him?
What will the company have to handle when many people use this procedure?
Where would a clearer explanation, limit, or process modification help?

In such a review, marketing, business analyst, product manager and colleagues who will handle orders complement each other perfectly. Each of them sees a different part of the story. Together they can prepare an offer that is both interesting and manageable in practice. Let your creativity take flight. And give the rules a test flight.

Want to test your own campaign or loyalty program like this? Go over your ideas with an expert in a free consultation.

Arrange a free consultation

Sources and processing note

Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc., 88 F. Supp. 2d 116 (SDNY 1999), decision of August 5, 1999 – full text at Justia. The main source for chronology, program rules, check amounts, dispute outcomes, and advertising edits.
Netflix: Pepsi, Where's My Jet? A documentary series for readers who want to know the bigger story.

The article is an author's humorous retelling of a true story. The meeting and dialogues are fictional. The illustrations are a free artistic interpretation of the story and do not depict actual participants or documented company negotiations.

A fighter jet for lemonade? One student took it seriously.

A little more stylish for school

A calculator enters the scene

And where do we book the fighter?

The court put an end to the story

Borrow Leonardo's calculator before launching your campaign

Sources and processing note