Many documentaries are fun. Some are easy ways to be able to learn about a subject. This documentary just happens to be both! “Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?” takes viewers on quite the journey. Netflix has mastered the art of producing these short form documentaries in a way that feels fun and informal.
As always our reviews break down the media by story, acting, and overall.
Story 8/10
This is definitely a very interesting story taken directly from history. It discusses not only main story, but the journey of the parties involved. From the ad campaign executives all the way to the young man who thought he’d found a way to win a harrier jet for pennies on the dollar. The ad campaign attempted to get more kids and adults to drink Pepsi by creating a point system from the bottles.
However, their ad for the campaign features a potential offer to spend points on a harrier jet, but they lowered the point price, and didn’t include disclaimers that it was a joke.
“…the people in this story don’t really come off as monsters or villains per se. It’s just an interesting journey that takes several twists and turns along the way.”
Sometimes it’s hard to see a protagonist or antagonist in the story though, as the people in this story don’t really come off as monsters or villains per se. It’s just an interesting journey that takes several twists and turns along the way.
Additionally the people at Netflix did a great job hiring actors to help build the recreations of scenes where there just couldn’t have visually conveyed the events without actual footage. It was a very engaging and fun way to connect the words spoken to a story at large.
Acting 8/10
The Actors chosen to play the major people in their youth do a really good job looking like the adult parties, and telling the interviewee’s stories. Outside of the reenactors, it’s hard to discuss the category “specifically” of acting. That being said, I will specifically say that there were a couple of people that I wanted to dislike within the documentary upon first seeing them and hearing their side of the story. Surprisingly though, as the documentary went further into the journey, my perceptions changed and I saw those people not really being monsters, but just being people on the other side of a fight.
One such person specifically was the ad agency manager, Michael Patti, who specifically even said this about John Leonard, “I kind of view him as a kid with a quarter at the carnival who wants to beat the carnival games. And you kinda got to root for that.”
Overall 7.5/10
The saddest and most frustrating thing this story is humor, comedy, and lack of a good result for John Leonard, but the result that the judgment from this case had on the legal world. Especially considering the horrible way the matter was handled by the trial court.
The truth of the matter is that this situation has shaped law books, and the study of facts that occured has had a profound effect on legal discourse in law schools all across the country.
Conner’s Final Thoughts
The lesson learned from this four episode documentary is that you should always be careful with what you’re offering to people out in the world. On the other side, you should never get your hopes up about something, especially when a corporation is involved on the other side. We can’t wait to see the next documentary series Netflix has for us.
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