Pepsi Number Fever

Region

Philippines

Associated With

Pepsi Cola Products (Phils.), Inc. and PepsiCo, Inc. - promoters

Defining Feature

Under-the-crown prize caps combining a three-digit number, security code and prize denomination

Status

Historical event - Philippine promotion ended in 1992; named litigation continued to 2006

Overview

Pepsi’s Number Fever promotion in the Philippines turned bottle caps into disputed prize claims in 1992.

The campaign, approved and supervised by the Department of Trade and Industry, covered Pepsi, 7-Up, Mirinda and Mountain Dew. Specially marked caps carried a three-digit number, an alphanumeric security code and a cash-prize amount.

On 25 May, Pepsi announced 349 as the winning number for the following day. Many holders sought payment, but Pepsi rejected caps whose security codes did not match its official winning list. It offered ₱500 per non-winning 349 cap presented by 12 June 1992. Some holders refused and pursued claims in court, where later decisions upheld the matching-code requirement.

Why It Mattered

An everyday purchase became an apparent promise of a life-changing payout. The dispute showed how a promotion could generate expectations that its redemption rules did not fulfil for many participants. Years of litigation turned disposable bottle caps into legal evidence, with courts examining the advertised conditions and official prize lists to decide whether payment was owed.

Under-the-Crown Rules

• The DTI-approved, supervised promotion offered cash prizes through specially marked crowns and resealable caps.
• It covered Pepsi, 7-Up, Mirinda and Mountain Dew in the Philippines.
• A qualifying cap carried a three-digit number, a seven-character alphanumeric security code and a prize denomination.

Campaign Timetable

• The court-recorded campaign ran from 17 February to 8 May 1992, followed by an extension from 11 May to 12 June.
• A separate Supreme Court account says Number Fever launched “some time in 1991”, leaving its initial launch date unresolved.
• Number 349 was announced on 25 May for 26 May; the disputed 349 caps in the named cases did not have the recorded winning code combinations.

Goodwill Offer and Court Cases

• The P500 goodwill payment was separate from the original prize conditions and was offered to certain 349-cap holders until 12 June 1992.
• In Patan, decided in 2004, the Supreme Court held that a named claimant who rejected the offer could not later compel payment after it expired.
• In Pagdanganan and Lumahan, decided in 2006, the Court reinstated dismissal of the named respondents’ complaint and denied goodwill compensation in that case.

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