Featured Image Credit: Netflix/Disney
Topics: Film and TV, The Simpsons
Emma Guinness
The new Netflix documentary Pepsi, Where's My Jet? has lifted the lid on the soft drink company's promotion to give consumers the chance to win a Harrier jet - and it looks like The Simpsons may have just predicted the whole thing years ago.
Ran way back in the 90s, at least one person genuinely believed that if they collected enough Pepsi Points, they could be flying around like a kid in the advertisement.
However, as the old saying goes, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and this all unfolded when one Pepsi fan attempted to claim their Harrier jet.
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As revealed in Netflix's latest documentary, this went far from to plan and the company later said that the promotion was 'fanciful' and designed to 'create a humorous and entertaining ad'.
The synopsis for the Netflix documentary reads: "When a 20-year-old attempts to win a fighter jet in a Pepsi sweepstakes, he sets the stage for a David versus Goliath court battle for the history books."
Now, without giving too much away, Netflix fans have suggested that The Simpsons predicted the reality of the promotion in the season 5's 17th episode, 'Bart Gets An Elephant'.
It sees Bart attempt to claim a clearly bogus prize from a radio station - an elephant - when he wins a competition, and it aired back in 1994 - meaning that it most certainly predated Pepsi's now notorious jet competition, which took place in 1996.
The moral of the story is one we all know - he should have known better than to think a radio station was going to give away an elephant as a prize.
The similarity between the episode and what really happened when John Leonard tried to claim his $23 million fighter jet did not go unnoticed by viewers.
One wrote alongside a gif from the episode: "Watching Pepsi, where’s my jet? Thinking only of this TV greatness."
A second joked: "Of course 'Bart Gets an Elephant' episode of The Simpsons aired before the guy tried to get a Harrier jet from Pepsi."
Not realising that the episode predates Pepsi's marketing stunt, a third remarked: "John Leonard (Pepsi, Where's My Jet?) had to have inspired the Bart Gets an Elephant Simpsons episode [sic]."
Leonard, who was in college at the time of his attempted claim, reflected on the fact that he thought he could win the jet in the documentary.
He said: "I still get a kick out of the fact that I had the chutzpah at that time to actually come to that conclusion. Probably wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made in my life."
Pepsi, Where's My Jet? is available to stream on Netflix now, and apparently psychic powers of The Simpsons continue...