You will
never be
forgotten.
Little Nemo

RETRORATING: 12

My Final Halloween

RETRORATING: 16

Click HERE to register.


 Forgot your info?
Remember me

Don't mess
with the bull.
JOIN!!!
3 COMMENTS
RETRORATING: 8
FAVORITED 2 TIMES

The Pepsi Gotta Have It Card

In the early 90's, Pepsi decided to change their logo and update their ad campaign which had grown stale since the big Pepsi Challenge of the 1970's. They hired the hottest woman on Earth at the time, Cindy Crawford, and introduced the new Pepsi logo with this amazing commercial during the 1992 Superbowl.
 

Armed with this great new ad campaign and a new logo that was embraced, Pepsi launched a new slogan, "Gotta Have It." It was simple, catchy, and looked good on a t-shirt.


Pepsi was cool and all us kids knew it. It was the first time I'd ever seen a major logo change and I was enamored with the new Pepsi vending machines featuring this snazzy new logo.

   220px-Pepsi_logo.svg
Pebsi-Logo

Pepsi went from being a boring soft drink to the newest and coolest thing to drink. But Pepsi still had one more marketing tactic up their sleeve, and that was the Pepsi Gotta Have It card.

 
The Gotta Have It card was a discount card that you could get free inside specially marked packages of Pepsi, or at random places like malls or convenience stores. The card was good for discounts at Blockbuster, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Eddie Bauer, Avis, MCI, and Continental Airlines. Some of the discounts had deadlines, but most were generic percentages off or rent three get one free type deals. 

Over 40 million cards were distributed the summer of 1992 to the thrill of kids everywhere. Why kids? Well it looked like a credit card. It had punched numbers in it and a place for a signature, and these were so readily available every kid was able to get their hands on one or ten of these. We'd put them in our wallets and walk around feeling grown up because we had a hard plastic card that actually meant something in our wallets. 

I only remember once ever using the discount, and that was at a Blockbuster. The sense of pride I had pulling out my handy Gotta Have It card to get my dad a free rental was intense. I knew then I was grown up, I handed a clerk a plastic card. Apparently the promotion was basically no risk to Pepsi and it worked out well for the retailers involved. It didn't last very long, but it definitely left a lasting impression on me.

Digg Share
Looking for more from massreality?
READ 77322 TIMES
Close

massreality Posted on Apr 18, 2015 at 05:29 AM

Thanks Hojo. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And Vapor, man I feel ya on the real credit cards. Sheesh!

Vaporman87 Posted on Apr 14, 2015 at 03:33 PM

Speaking of "plastic", I can recall purchasing wallets and pretending that the "cards" that came with it were actually valid and I would purchase myself several toys (that I just happened to already own). Ahhh, youth. Those charges were ones I never had to repay. If only it were that way with the cards I have now. LOL

Hoju Koolander Posted on Apr 14, 2015 at 01:49 AM

Pretty awesome recollection of that brief moment in time. I wasn't allowed to drink caffeinated sodas, but the look of the Pepsi can prior to this re-design was such an iconic symbol of my childhood. I even invested in Pepsi Co. During my 6th grade stock market investment project. Way to dig up an not often discussed, but awesome topic. Well written too.

A Review of the Hyperkin RetroN 3

You might recall that the NES Classic Mini caused quite a stir last year before immediately being sold out everywhere. 30 classic Nintendo games for $...

Josiecat

In April of 2001 I saw the live action Josie and the Pussycats movie. When I was on spring break I took a trip to the local mall looking for...

To the rescue sitcom moments

This is a sitcom staple almost all sitcoms have and often gets overlooked, or at least I haven't seen it discussed enough for my liking. A to the res...

Nena's 99 Luftballons German & English Translations

Way back in 1983, a German band released their debut album which contained a single that would eventually take the world by storm. The band Nena...

Geriatric Vegas

Going to Laughlin was my dad’s idea. I’m not sure why he wanted to go there. Before I went my friend recommended things to do there. She was alway...