alternatehistory.com
Addendum: Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson
August 29, 1958 - March 13, 1984
When filming a Pepsi commercial, pop superstar Michael Jackson was accidentally burned in a pyrotechnics accident, and was rushed to the hospital. Suffering third-degree burns, he was not expected to love long. On March 13, 1984, the news broke that Jackson had passed. The world mourned.
The Jackson family held a private funeral a few weeks later. Despite the privacy, several high-profile friends of Michael attended the funeral, such as James Brown and Paul McCartney. Even Madonna and Prince, two figures who seemed to rival Jackson in popularity, attended to share their condolences to the grieving Jackson family.
The Jacksons would eventually continue to make music, though not immediately after their brothers death. Jermaine Jackson stated in a magazine that the decision to continue was due to the brothers' belief that Michael was watching them from above, and they wanted to make their brother proud by carrying on his musical legacy. The two sisters of the Jackson family, Janet and LaToya, would later form a group of their own. An album of unreleased demos, entitled Making the Whole World Move, was released in 1985.
The news hit PepsiCo hard. After the incident, Pepsi had laid off its advertising branch and fired the pyrotechnicians who were filming the commercial. However, the company and its soft drinks would be the subject of public blame once Jackson was declared dead. By the end of 1984, PepsiCo lost a significant portion of its market share in the cola industry. This also shook up the Coca-Cola Company, which was planning to change its recipe for Coca-Cola due to its decline in market share. Once Pepsi began to lose steam, however, this caused a major shakedown in the company, as the cause of its new project was no longer an issue.
PepsiCo was not the only company to be hit by the megastar's death. Sega, which had planned to sell its home arcades in North America, caught the interest of Jackson as he was willing to invest in the business. Jackson was hospitalized before a deal could be made. Gene Lipkin, President of Sega of America at the time, stated that he didn't feel like going to work the day Jackson died. After Jackson's passing, a myriad of other companies and firms looked into partnering with or purchasing Sega, but ultimately none would do so. By 1985, it was thought that Sega would end up only selling home arcades in Japan.
Michael Joseph Jackson
August 29, 1958 - March 13, 1984
When filming a Pepsi commercial, pop superstar Michael Jackson was accidentally burned in a pyrotechnics accident, and was rushed to the hospital. Suffering third-degree burns, he was not expected to love long. On March 13, 1984, the news broke that Jackson had passed. The world mourned.
The Jackson family held a private funeral a few weeks later. Despite the privacy, several high-profile friends of Michael attended the funeral, such as James Brown and Paul McCartney. Even Madonna and Prince, two figures who seemed to rival Jackson in popularity, attended to share their condolences to the grieving Jackson family.
The Jacksons would eventually continue to make music, though not immediately after their brothers death. Jermaine Jackson stated in a magazine that the decision to continue was due to the brothers' belief that Michael was watching them from above, and they wanted to make their brother proud by carrying on his musical legacy. The two sisters of the Jackson family, Janet and LaToya, would later form a group of their own. An album of unreleased demos, entitled Making the Whole World Move, was released in 1985.
The news hit PepsiCo hard. After the incident, Pepsi had laid off its advertising branch and fired the pyrotechnicians who were filming the commercial. However, the company and its soft drinks would be the subject of public blame once Jackson was declared dead. By the end of 1984, PepsiCo lost a significant portion of its market share in the cola industry. This also shook up the Coca-Cola Company, which was planning to change its recipe for Coca-Cola due to its decline in market share. Once Pepsi began to lose steam, however, this caused a major shakedown in the company, as the cause of its new project was no longer an issue.
PepsiCo was not the only company to be hit by the megastar's death. Sega, which had planned to sell its home arcades in North America, caught the interest of Jackson as he was willing to invest in the business. Jackson was hospitalized before a deal could be made. Gene Lipkin, President of Sega of America at the time, stated that he didn't feel like going to work the day Jackson died. After Jackson's passing, a myriad of other companies and firms looked into partnering with or purchasing Sega, but ultimately none would do so. By 1985, it was thought that Sega would end up only selling home arcades in Japan.
- StomperYoshi
- Word Count: 420