Michael jackson - the pepsi fire incident

In the year 1984, Michael Jackson was near the height of his fame, on the back of the stupendous success of the Thriller album. Of the various commercial endorsements that Michael Jackson made at the time, the most lucrative was a Pepsi commercial he signed on for. The commercial involved Jackson dancing down a ramp while fireworks and pyrotechnics went off around him. There was a timing error in the way the pyrotechnics went off though, and an error in judgment in the way they were placed. As Michael Jackson danced past the exploding fireworks, his hair caught on fire; he was injured somewhat seriously, and hair on the top of his head was burned off. Perhaps this accident was the cause of his death last month.

That burn accident appeared to have harmed tissues under the skin, and gave Jackson a life of never-ending pain. A person who suffers from constant pain needs to resort to constant pain medication; it is said that Michael Jackson to pain medication for the effects of that accident, and became addicted to pain medication. Friends and relatives are known to have expressed anguish to news outlets as how Michael Jackson's addiction has done terrible things to him. Michael Jackson needed surgery, more than one, to treat the effects of that accident. There is a famous photograph of the star leaving the Shrine Auditorium where the commercial was filming on a stretcher after the accident; he says in his autobiography Moonwalk that it was a brilliant strategy he thought of on the spot, to put on his single white sequined glove for the benefit of the photographers as he left with the ambulance. That idea made quite an impression.

Photographs of the accident have always been in wide circulation; but today, a gossip magazine has recently somehow obtained unauthorized footage that was taken on the day, of Michael Jackson catching on fire. The video is widely available on the Internet. The video shows Jackson dancing to music, as his brother Jermaine Jackson plays the guitar a little ahead of him. Sparks fly as the pyrotechnics go off, and we see his head catch on fire. He doesn't seem to realize that he is on fire and continues dancing - a spin later, the fire goes out but a number of people tackle him to try to put unseen flames out., as Jermaine takes notice. At the end of it all, Michael Jackson has a bald spot on the top of his head.

Pepsi paid Michael Jackson an apology gratuity of $1.5 million; Michael Jackson famously donated this sum to a hospital burns unit.