Oh, the 80s – it was a simpler era, like that time Coke went ‘Back to the Future’ to promote Cherry Coke. Nobody seemed to care! Until now. Come for the bad effects, stay for the Victoria Jackson cameo! Take a look:
For legal purposes, this isn’t a rip-off – it’s a ‘pastiche.’ One gets you sued, the other gets you laughs. 1985 America was going ‘Back to the Future’ crazy (it was the highest-grossing movie in 1985 – beating out Beverly Hills Cop, Rambo, and The Goonies). Coke wisely found a way to capitalize on the interest without actually paying for it.
They probably greenlit the project by saying ‘Coke meets Back to the Future and we don’t have to pay licensing!’ I’m not sure if this commercial factored into Coke’s decision to drop Kenyon & Eckhardt as an advertiser, but it certainly couldn’t have helped. Science fiction has long held an uneasy relationship with merchandising and product tie-ins.
So yeah, there was that time Coke went back to the Future. I hope you enjoyed this cheezy scifi discussion. Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great weekend!
