October 21, 2015 was supposed to be a day of celebration for fans of the BACK TO THE FUTURE Trilogy. Finally we had caught up with the future, rendering it as the present and, soon after, the past. We were supposed to watch the films and talk about how much we loved them, all while taking full advantage of all the opportunities that were popping up left and right for cool things BACK TO THE FUTURE fans could collect to commemorate the occasion.
And then the Pepsi Perfect debacle happened, and, of course, somehow ruined the day for a bunch of people who felt cheated out of something.
Granted, the problem happened before BACK TO THE FUTURE Day even began, so those people had a long day ahead, but let me explain to you what happened.
Pepsi had previously announced that they’d be selling a limited run of Pepsi Perfect collectible bottles – the very drink Marty orders inside the Cafe 80s in BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II – and that they’d be made available on October 21. Amazon and Walmart’s websites would be the only retailers carrying them, but you should keep an eye on Pepsi’s social media accounts for details as to when the sale would happen.
Then, at about 11:30 p.m. EST, on October 20, somehow the bottles went up for grabs unannounced and were gone in a flash. But, if you went searching to find them on eBay, you would have plenty of success. You’d also have to pay hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of dollars to get one, if you really were ready to cross that line. The fandom scalpers had come out in full force.
Needless to say, people were pissed.
But they would still get another chance, with Pepsi becoming aware of the issue and trying to correct it as best as they could in the moment, announcing more bottles would be made available yesterday morning. At 9:00 a.m. EST, they went up for sale again at both Walmart and Amazon, and within minutes were sold out.
Needless to say again, people were pissed.
Granted, this wasn’t something that was originally meant for everyone, but, after that first misstep, the outrage and disappointment snowballed greatly for those who weren’t able to get their hands on one but felt they deserved one.
So Pepsi is at it again, trying to make as many people happy as possible.
Once more, they have announced that they will be making more bottles available, giving those who are seeking to land one ample notice to plan out where they’ll be, how much money they might have available, etc. There is no indication that this will be limited anymore, so it’s very likely if you want one, all you need to do is place an order and you’ll get one.
Pepsi will be handling the sales this time on their own website, so mark down November 3 at 9:00 a.m. EST on your calendar. If you miss out this time, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.