For many people, the 1978 film Superman was – and still is – the best superhero movie ever made. Admittedly, the Richard Donner film starring Christopher Reeve is probably the most accurate representation of The Man of Steel on the big screen, so maybe there’s something to that argument.
I was almost four when the film came out, but with the way films stuck around in theaters back then, it’s entirely possible that it was still out by the time I was five. Either way, I definitely saw it in the theater, because I can vividly remember being pretty freaked out when Superman catches the helicopter falling outside the windows of The Daily Planet. And, of course, who can forget the iconic moment when baby Kal-El lifts the truck off his adopted father?
That being said, Superman was not something I watched often growing up. In fact, I’ve probably seen Part II more times than I have the original. It’s not for lack of admiration for the film, it was just never really available for me to watch out in the country with no access to HBO or The Movie Channel; I really only watched it whenever it aired on broadcast TV.
However, in my ongoing search to collect pop culture ephemera, I came across a Facebook Marketplace listing for these Superman promotional glasses from 1978. They had three glasses in pristine condition, all for only $10! Even without looking up the prices on eBay, I knew this was a great deal, so I jumped on them.
Once I got them home, I started doing a little digging and found that they were part of a promotion with Pepsi. For 69 cents, people could get a medium Pepsi product in one of six promotional glasses. According to this advertisement from capedwonder.com, one glass was available every week. And it appears I have glasses 1, 2, and 3.
What’s weird, though, is that on that ad, there is no restaurant branding, just Pepsi-Cola. Like on the Star Wars Burger King glasses promotional items, it was always made clear that you could only get those glasses at BK.
Even the glasses themselves were marked with a Burger King logo…
But you’ll notice that only the Pepsi logo is seen on the Superman glasses…
I even found this standee that’s currently on eBay and, once again, no specific restaurant branding…
I did find one Taco Bell commercial for the glasses, but that’s the only verified restaurant I can find that was part of this promotional campaign…
So, this has me wondering – Did Pepsi make these and offered them up to anyone that contracted with them? Like, could I have gotten one at my local sit-down, non-franchise, Mom & Pop restaurant? Were they available at different restaurants depending on the region of the United States, say Taco Bell in California, but maybe at Arby’s in Minnesota? I don’t know! I’m sure someone out there has the answer, but thus far, my Googling has come up with nothing definitive.
Either way, I’m halfway there (woah-oh, livin’ on a prayer), so I’ll have to make sure I keep an eye out for the rest of this mysterious collection as I go thrift store and antique mall shopping. If all else fails, eBay typically has them for sale around $15 each, so I’m sure I’ll complete the set at some point. I’ll be sure to keep you updated.
