FLASHBACK: Michael Jackson Pepsi Commercial Hair On Fire

A blaze fans can’t forget

(Photo: TortillaReport.com)

Michael Jackson streaked like a fiery comet across the pop universe during his lifetime. It is completely accurate to say that nobody fell in the shadow cast by that great light he shone. He burned bright, a light reaching all corners of the world. Everyone knew who he was. Fans everywhere saved their money to attend his concerts, and sometimes they even used payday loans and cash advance for help.

Unfortunately, almost everyone knows about the day Michael the man was on fire. Like me, you remember the Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial (aka hair on fire).

A surreal, horrific January 27, 1984

Going back in the archives of People magazine, everyone in attendance initially thought that Michael Jackson had been shot. Both the commercial film crew and his brothers in the band were stunned by his screams. They quickly discovered that his head was wreathed in flame.

It was a fireworks display gone wrong

As you’ll see in the video, Michael descended a flight of stairs to a performance stage below. The pyrotechnical display was supposed to go off after he was off the stairs, but on the fateful sixth take, they fired too early. What would have been a dazzling performance at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles turned into a fiery nightmare of second and third degree burns to Jackson’s scalp and face.

According to People, the first person to respond to Jackson’s hair being on fire was Miko Brando, 22, Marlon Jackson’s son and a member of security at the Pepsi shoot. “I tore out, hugged him, tackled him and ran my hands through his hair,” reports Brando, burning his own fingers in the process. Within seconds the fire was extinguished and Michael was rushed to the ER. But the memory (and – depending upon who you ask – after-effects) still lives on.

Medicine and plastic surgery

Dr. Steven Hoefflin, Michael’s personal physician and plastic surgeon at the time, met Michael at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. “It was quite a shock for Michael, and when I got there he was in a daze,” Hoefflin said. “After I examined him and told him he would be fine, he felt a lot better.”

It has been speculated that Michael’s issues with painkillers (and subsequent plastic surgeries) may have come following the Pepsi commercial hair on fire incident. The truth of that, however, is uncertain.

The hospital circus

Millions of fans and well-wishers followed every moment of Michael’s recovery. Friends Diana Ross and Liza Minnelli both called him while he was in the hospital. One female fan sent him a telegram that read, “I heard you were hot, Michael, but this is ridiculous.”

Two young fans claimed they would have been willing to suffer injury to be able to see Michael in the emergency room, which gives some indication of how fanatical Michael’s fans have been over the years. “I would be willing to break my arm,” said 14-year-old Tyrone Davis, “just to be in the emergency room with Michael.” John Thomas, 13 and a friend of Davis, boasted one better: “That’s nothing. I would break my neck.”

Michael made a point of visiting people in the burn unit at the hospital before he left. Nearly all of the staff received souvenirs, pictures, tapes, “Thriller” albums and 8×10 glossies. Autographs flew fast and furious, but Michael was happy to oblige.

What caused the hair fire accident?

(Photo: ImKeepingUp.com)

The people in charge of the pyrotechnical display are experts in their field, so their competence was not questioned. Eyewitnesses believe they saw a stray spark from one of the lighting effects set Michael’s hair ablaze, which would appear to call into safety whatever substance was being used to do up Michael’s hair. Both the Jackson family and Pepsi went through extensive review of the film of the incident to determine whether there had been any negligence involved. At the time, Michael Jackson’s Pepsi sponsorship guaranteed him as least $5 million, which was the most lucrative celebrity endorsement to that point.

Other plans to build a legend

On a much safer front, Michael was planning his first autobiography at the time. Jackie Onassis, the widow of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, was a publisher in her later years. She first met Michael at a Kennedy Center Honors event several years before the Pepsi accident. Since then, she’d gotten the chance to know him better. Doubleday, Onassis’ firm, announced a $300,000-plus deal for Jackson’s autobiography, which hit the shelves in the spring of 1985. Considering the year, that figure was an out-of-sight deal, even though it paled in comparison to the Pepsi dollars.

Speaking of best sellers

“Thriller” quickly made its way into “The Guinness Book of World Records.” It had sold 23 million copies, and in light of the singer’s untimely death, the numbers will only continue to climb. The duet off the album in which he performs with Paul McCartney, “Say Say Say,” set records as a chart-topping single, too.

Remembering Michael

Michael Jackson is missed by millions around the globe. Just for the chance to be near his memorial service, fans spent ridiculous amounts of money so that they’d have the chance to show their devotion live and in person. It seems likely that some sought budgetary aid in order to make their devotion a reality. Whether or not payday loans and cash advance had a role seems plausible.

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