Pepsi-Cola Unveils Star Wars Car for Charlotte Race Weekend
27 May 1999
Pepsi-Cola Unveils Star Wars Car for Charlotte Race Weekend
Jeff Gordon to be Behind the Wheel in Saturday's Carquest Auto Parts 300
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 26 -- Pepsi-Cola Company and Lucasfilm,
Ltd. unveiled a new paint scheme on the Gordon-Evernham Motorsports #24 Pepsi
car today that features characters from the recently released movie, Star
Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Jeff Gordon will race the car in
Saturday's Busch Grand National Carquest Auto Parts 300 at the Lowe's Motor
Speedway. The car was unveiled at Action Performance Companies, Inc.
"Pepsi brought us the idea of creating a Star Wars car and we jumped at the
opportunity," said Gordon, a three-time Winston Cup Champion. "I was only six
years old when the first Star Wars movie came out and I loved every minute of
it."
"Jeff will have a little extra help from this paint job on Saturday when
he races the #24 Pepsi Chevrolet," said Rick Rock, vice president, media and
entertainment, Pepsi-Cola North America. "The whole G-E-M team has been a
fantastic addition to the Pepsi family and we're looking forward to seeing a
terrific race this weekend."
Action Performance will market and distribute exclusively
designed die-cast collectibles of the #24 GEM Star Wars/Pepsi car. The
company also will produce hats and T-shirts for fans and collectors to
purchase trackside at Saturday's race and through Action Performance's regular
distribution channels. In addition, five Hasbro Winner's CircleO Jeff Gordon
die-cast items with the Star Wars paint scheme will be available at retail
stores this fall. Nutmeg Mills also will offer hat and apparel items under
the Chase Authentic brand.
"Action is thrilled to be working with Pepsi, Gordon-Evernham Motorsports
and Lucasfilm to create a collaborative Episode I promotion with champion Jeff
Gordon," said Fred Wagenhals, Action chairman, president and chief executive
officer. "Star Wars is a historical part of the American culture and Jeff has
certainly become a cultural icon among millions of race fans. It's exciting
to see fiction and reality come together on the track in the form of this
spectacular race car."
This summer, Pepsi will produce 24 limited-edition collectible cans
featuring characters from Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace. New
characters will be featured every two-to-three weeks on cans of Pepsi, Diet
Pepsi, Pepsi ONE, Mountain Dew and Storm (where available). Pepsi also has
seeded 250,000 gold Yoda cans in 12- and 24-packs. Consumers who come across
a gold Yoda can keep the can or send it back to Pepsi for a $20 collectible
Star Wars check and a replacement can. Pepsi's Star Wars-themed advertising,
featuring a special character created by Pepsi and Industrial Light and Magic
named "Marfalump," began running last week.
Pepsi has been a partner of Winston Cup racing since NASCAR introduced the
sport in 1948. Pepsi serves its products at 15 of the 21 Winston Cup tracks
and is the title sponsor of three NASCAR Winston Cup races in Daytona, Fla.
(Pepsi 400), Brooklyn, Mich. (Pepsi 400) and Darlington, S.C. (Pepsi Southern
500). Pepsi-Cola Company, the global beverage division of PepsiCo, Inc., is
based in Purchase, N.Y.
Gordon-Evernham Motorsports, co-owned by Brooke Gordon and Ray Evernham,
will field a Busch Grand National race car sponsored by Pepsi to be driven in
selected races by Jeff Gordon in 1999 and 2000.
Action Performance is the leader in the design, marketing, promotion and
distribution of licensed motorsports merchandise. Its products include a
broad range of motorsports-related die-cast car replica collectibles, apparel,
souvenirs, and other memorabilia. The company markets and distributes
products through a variety of channels, including the 165,000-member Racing
Collectables Club of America (RCCA), online through SpeedMall at goracing.com,
trackside at racing events, mass retail department stores, and a worldwide
network of wholesale distributors and specialty dealers.