3
A used fighter jet, sort of
The Pepsi Points Harrier — a joke that ended up in federal court.
7,000,000Pepsi Points the advert showed for a Harrier jump jet.
A 1996 Pepsi advert ended with a teenager landing an AV-8B Harrier at school, captioned "HARRIER FIGHTER 7,000,000 POINTS". It was plainly a gag. The points could also be bought at ten cents each, which meant the jet had a price: $700,000, against a real unit cost somewhere north of $30 million.
John Leonard, a 21-year-old business student, raised the money from investors, sent Pepsi a cheque and 15 points, and asked for his jet. Pepsi said no. He sued.
The court sided with Pepsi in 1999, on the grounds that no reasonable person would think a soft drink company was offering military aircraft — and noted that the jet in the advert was not even armed for combat use a civilian could have. Pepsi quietly changed the number to 700,000,000 points.