One of my friends, Carla, shared a photo of a vinyl
record that she had in her Pepsi collection. Her father and grandfather were both employees of Pepsi. The first thing that caught my eye on the record was the name Bobby Mackey. Needless to say, I had to find out more on
the story behind the song, “Pepsi Man.”
As you know, Bobby Mackey owns the legendary haunted honky tonk in
Wilder, Kentucky. Click here to read my
adventures of visiting it. Over the
years, I’ve gotten to learn some country music history through Bobby. I will say that he is a legend in his own
right and should be included into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. Next month, they will celebrate 37 years in
business as one of the oldest honky tonks in Kentucky.
The story behind the song, “Pepsi Man,” is a unique
one. In 1981, the Professional Air
Traffic Controllers went on an illegal strike.
President Ronald Reagan ended up breaking the strike and fired all of
the air traffic controllers. Two air traffic
controllers that use to work out of Cincinnati wrote the song, “Pepsi Man.” They gave the song to Bobby Mackey and upon
hearing it, he saw the promotional possibilities. He would record “Pepsi Man” and give a copy
of it to the local Cincinnati Pepsi distributor. They would forward the song on up to New York
City to the Pepsi World Headquarters.
At the same time, Scott Wills was a marketing person at
Pepsi and was organizing Pepsi Rallies with the Pepsi distributors across the
country. The rallies were to challenge
people to take the Pepsi Challenge. They
needed a theme song and Scott remembered having the cassette tape with Bobby
Mackey singing on it. He thought it
would be fun to have the song performed live at the larger distributors.
Scott Wills met up with Bobby Mackey in Nashville,
Tennessee, to make a customized version of “Pepsi Man” for the rallies. Andy Di Martino of Moon Shine Records
Nashville saw the promotional opportunity and talked Pepsi into help promote a
national release of the song on his label.
Bobby Mackey, as well as his promotional guru, RJ Siefert,
few up to New York City to meet with the Pepsi Brass and spent a night viewing
the NYC night spots, including Studio 54.
The Pepsi Brass loved the song, as well as Bobby Mackey. Moon Shine Records released the song and it
would chart in the Top 50 on the Billboard Country Singles Chart in June of
1982. For several months, Bobby Mackey
would perform on a National Tour of the Rallies. By the fall, the rallies were completed and
as they say, the rest is history.
There are actually multiple versions of “Pepsi Man”
recorded over the years beyond the customized version for the
distributors. Below is one that has more
of a bluegrass vibe, but still includes Bobby Mackey singing lead vocals.
So the next time you are sipping on an ice cold Pepsi
drink among friends and family, be sure to tell them the story of “Pepsi Man.”
