Pepsi Signs MJ, Microsoft Releases Windows, and Arthur Anderson Gets Indicted

Happy day after St. Patrick’s Day! ☘️ 

Top of the mornin’ to ya. We’ve had a big week in market history.

• Skype, who had a 20 year head start to prepare for virtual meetings during the pandemic, closed up shop.

• PepsiCo $PEP ( ▲ 0.45% ) announced it would be buying soda line Poppi for $2 billion. Not a bad take after starting on Shark Tank.

• Big news for Elon- Tesla’s $TSLA ( ▼ 1.67% ) cheaper Model Y debuted in China, and SpaceX launched a rescue mission to bring back stranded astronauts on the ISS.

• Gamers rejoiced as Nintendo $NTDOY ( ▼ 4.29% ) announced a follow up to the Switch, the best-selling console ever.

• Gold crossed $3,000 for the first time ever.

Even with market volatility and a selloff, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Stay Bullish.

Pepsi And MJ: The Biggest Celebrity Endorsement Ever📅

In 1983, Pepsi $PEP ( ▲ 0.45% ) signed Michael Jackson to a $5 million advertising deal, the largest celebrity endorsement of its time. 

In trying to attract younger customers away from Coca-Cola $KO ( ▲ 1.78% ) , Jackson re-recorded the lyrics to his songs as part of Pepsi’s “New Generation” campaign, filming full-length music videos that would be turned into commercials. 

During the filming of an ad in Los Angeles, Jackson’s hair caught on fire from being too close to a pyrotechnics display. Jackson suffered second-degree burns and required surgery to repair his scalp. Jackson would reportedly develop an addiction to painkillers after the incident and wear wigs to cover up the scars. 

Jackson would re-sign with Pepsi for $10 million in 1987 which would help support his “Bad” tour. Pepsi would drop Jackson as a spokesman in 1993 after allegations about Jackson were publicly released.

Celebrity endorsements had been used for years, with the first recorded promo traced back to Queen Victoria giving Cadbury Chocolates a “royal warrant” in 1854, though none had been as significant or lucrative as Jackson signing with Pepsi.

Want more historical celebrity endorsements? Follow us on Instagram and X at @tickerhistory.

March 19, 1985: Microsoft Releases Windows 1.0 📅

Menus, icons, and scroll bars changed everything.

Forty years ago, Microsoft released the first version of Windows, an extension of the MS-DOS system that had a graphical user interface. Building upon the hardware (but not commercial) success of the Apple Lisa two years earlier, the system let users “see” their files, making PCs more accessible to end users.

The software required at least 256 KB of RAM, two double-sided 5.25” floppy disk drives, and a graphics adapter. Priced at $99, it sold an estimated 500,000 copies with competition from Apple and IBM’s OS/2.

Windows would take off with the release of 3.0 five years later and would make Microsoft the most widely used operating system.

March 17, 2002: Arthur Andersen Suffers Enron Fallout 📅

On this day, "Big Five" accounting giant Arthur Andersen was indicted on obstruction of justice charges for shredding documents related to its audit of Enron after news of the scandal broke. Arthur Anderson was convicted three months later.

The firm watched its 90-year history of ethics, trust, and integrity collapse as details emerged of its role in the Enron Scandal. The firm was ordered to surrender its licenses and laid off 28,000 employees. The "Big Five" became the "Big Four" overnight.

The conviction was overturned on appeal three years later, but it was too late- Andersen’s reputation was destroyed and it could never recover. Though nobody from Andersen went to jail, Enron’s executives weren’t so lucky.

March 19, 1966: TI Makes A Handheld Calculator📅

Remember the TI-84 graphing calculator you used in AP Calculus?

Texas Instruments debuted the world's first electronic handheld calculator, called the “Cal Tech” 59 years ago this week. Prior to this, someone trying to do math at home needed a machine the size of their desk to get enough computing power to do simple calculations. Led by engineer Jack Kilby, the Cal Tech would create a $1.2 billion industry in less than ten years.

The first handheld calculator available to consumers was the Canon Pocketronic in 1970 which sold for $150, though other companies would develop their own models and drive prices down quickly.

Businesses and corporations who could afford to buy handheld calculators for their staff saw their productivity surge, and the invention changed the face of finance, business, and education going forward.

Looking Forward 📅

That’s old news. What can we look forward to this week?

• Nike $NKE ( ▲ 0.3% ) , FedEx $FDX ( ▲ 0.86% ) , and Carnival Cruises $CCL ( ▼ 1.71% ) release earnings this week, giving us insight into LeBron James’ marketing, package delivery, and boomer vacations.

• NVIDIA’s $NVDA ( ▼ 1.18% ) GTC 2025 conference is underway, with CEO Jensen Huang expected to highlight Nvidia's advancements in artificial intelligence.

• The FED makes an interest rate decision on Wednesday, presumably by throwing darts at a board.

• Is anyone watching Severance???