DREAMS is the name of the Pepsi commercial Michael Jackson shot in January 1992 to promote his album DANGEROUS and the upcoming world tour. DREAMS is somehow prophetic and literally shows a dream by Michael Jackson that ends up as a nightmare in the entertainment industry.
With the Pepsi commercial DREAMS, Michael Jackson was primarily supposed to promote the Pepsi corporation. But what came out of it was pure Michael Jackson art. In DREAMS he warns about danger, scheming and seduction in the entertainment industry. In a commercial. Pepsi financed the commercial DREAMS, sponsored the DANGEROUS world tour by Michael Jackson and paid him a million-dollar fee.
In 1983 Michael Jackson had signed an advertising contract with Pepsi Cola. The company sponsored several of Jackson’s tours, and he, in return, made commercials for the company. Under his creative influence those commercials became over the course of the decade more and more like Michael-Jackson-mini-movies. In 1992 to promote his DANGEROUS album and of course Pepsi, Michael Jackson made the Pepsi commercial DREAMS. With the end of his DANGEROUS tour, the contract between Pepsi and Michael Jackson ended in 1993 and he released a version of DREAMS on his DVD „Dangerous: The Short Films“. There is no longer a reference to Pepsi in the mini movie but the story he told originally. 1
The artist Michael Jackson used Pepsi to tell his own story, a story that continued especially in his short film WHO IS IT in 1993 and perhaps even in his song PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME in 1999. 2 Michael Jackson’s Pepsi Commercial DREAMS can be viewed on YouTube via this link.
Michael Jackson made this seductive woman, whom he described as dangerous, to a permanent theme in his art. In all his stories he told, those women like BILLIE JEAN or DIRTY DIANA or Susie seem to be synonymous with the seductions of the destructive industry of entertainment. The devastating danger of the tabloid press included. Michael Jackson had grown up in this industry. An industry that is literally dangerous and destructive but at the same time sinfully seductive. In all his stories, Michael could never resist the temptation of that woman. And he had somehow prophesied that this temptation would cost him his life.
Michael Jackson’s Pepsi Commercial DREAMS can be viewed on YouTube via this link.
Michael Jackson: Dancing the DREAMS in his DANGEROUS Cover
In 1992 the King of Pop dances his dreams in his own album cover DANGEROUS. Michael Jackson’s DREAMS were filmed in the scenery of his painting DANGEROUS, not only symbolically but literally.
In the loneliness of DREAMS, the King danced in the early 1990s on a wet asphalt to the rhythm of his song WHO IS IT (album DANGEROUS). WHO IS IT is Michael Jackson’s song in which he tells the story of betrayal, doubt and backstabbing.
In 1999, Michael Jackson recorded the musical piece PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME. This song, which he never released during his lifetime, can be placed like a template over the images in the Pepsi Commercial DREAMS:
„I walked down towards the end of the road …“
Michael Jackson around 1999 in PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME. 3
picture: Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial 1992. source. The images of the commercial can be used like a template over his song PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME:
„I walked down towards the end of the road …“
In DREAMS, Michael Jackson walks along this road, which sparkled in the deep blue night. Perhaps a border can be seen here that he had already crossed back in 1988 along the river in MOONWALKER. Michael Jackson also had such a border depicted on his DANGEROUS cover in 1991. Will Jackson cross the border again in DREAMS?
Michael Jackson’s nightmare in the dark entertainment-industry: Pepsi, DREAMS, the „Whore of Babylon“ and the movie „Metropolis“ from 1927
In Michael Jackson’s Pepsi commercial DREAMS from 1992, the fog reveals a beautiful woman. She is the temptation in person. In 1999 Michael Jackson sang also about such a woman in PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME:
„I walked down towards the end of the road and in the fog a woman appeared.“
Michael Jackson, ca. 1999 in PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME. 4
picture: Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial 1992. source. The images of the commercial can be used like a template over his song PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME:
„… and in the fog a woman appeared„
„The Girl was bad. The Girl was Dangerous…“
The woman seduces. Michael Jackson follows. She means danger, every viewer feels that. Jackson too, but he still follows her. Through the fog. Through the night. And through the color blue.
„As she took me right through the fog … “
Michael Jackson, ca. 1999 in PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME. 5
picture: Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial 1992. source. The images of the commercial can be used like a template over his song PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME:
„As she took me right through the fog … „
The woman leads the King of Pop to the throne, the symbol of the Kings. This throne is the spitting image of the royal throne that Jackson occupies on DANGEROUS in his role as King of Pop. Perhaps the seductive woman lures Michael Jackson with fame. Perhaps the beauty is a personification of fame. Perhaps she embodies the thirst for power, money and success in the entertainment business. Adoration comes to mind in this scene. And that the woman is calculating and up to no good. In any case it is too late for Jackson to turn back. But what other path in life could Michael Jackson ever have chosen?
„You only think about you, your throne
Jermaine Jackson 1991 in an angry song about his brother, the superstar. 6
be it right or be it wrong.“
Bild: Michael Jackson Pepsi Commercial 1992. Quelle
„You only think about you, your throne …“, Jermaine Jackson.
In the song DANGEROUS, who was also the name of Michael Jackson’s album in the year 1991, he describes the woman in more detail and none of it sounds comforting:
„The girl was bad. The girl was dangerous. … her mouth was smoother than oil but her inner spirit and words were as sharp as a two-edged sword, but I loved it ’cause it’s dangerous.“
Michael Jackson. 7
And because he loved it so much despite all the danger and because he could not resist the seduction, Michael Jackson bows down in front of the throne in DREAMS. And maybe he realizes that the throne and the woman now have a dominant position over him.
The woman in Michael Jackson’s DREAMS is dressed in the color „scarlet“. She shows all the similarities to the „Whore of Babylon“. That biblical mother of all whores. Not only in Michael Jackson’s DREAMS is she surrounded by a symbolic „seven-headed beast“. And at the same time, this woman is the image of the King in the figure of the dog on Michael Jackson’s DANGEROUS cover. And since this dog is „MJ“, the King of Pop Michael Jackson, how much of Michael Jackson „prostitutes“ himself in the industry not only in DREAMS?
And the peacock that appears in the middle of the multiple heads is Michael Jackson’s signature symbolic animal, which he carried in the entertainment industry since the end of the 1970s.
Michael Jackson DANGEROUS: „Metropolis“ and the „Whore of Babylon“ in the Pepsi Commercial DREAMS
Michael Jackson’s 1992 Pepsi commercial strongly resembles the images from the 1927 German silent film „Metropolis“ directed by Fritz Lang.
picture: the „Whore of Babylon“ or „false Maria“ in „Metropolis“ 1927 and in DREAMS, the Pepsi – commercial with Michael Jackson, 1992. DVD 2010
In „Metropolis“ too the „Machine Maria“ embodies all the deadly sins which are dangerous and tempting at the same time. She personifies sin and embodies the desire for sinful fortune and splendor. She dominates just like the woman in DREAMS. At the sight of her, all emotions are reflected on the men’s faces: Fear, doubt, knowledge, anxiety, resistance. And willingness. In 1927 as well as in 1992.
picture: men seduced by the woman in the shape of „Machine Mary“ in the 1927 film „Metropolis“ (DVD 2010) and Michael Jackson seduced by the woman in the Pepsi commercial DREAMS, 1992.
„And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.„
source: the movie „Metropolis“, 1927, by Fritz Lang.
picture: the „false Maria“ in „Metropolis“ 1927 by Fritz Lang (DVD 2010)
picture: The „Machine Mary“ from the movie „Metropolis“ from 1927 is modeled after the biblical „Whore of Babylon“. Which also embodies the church itself? source
picture: „… a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.“ From „Metropolis“ 1927 by Fritz Lang. DVD 2010
„And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and had a golden cup in her hand. And written on her forehead was a name, a mystery: Great Babylon, the mother of all horrors on earth. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints.“
Text from „Metropolis“, movie by Fritz Lang, 1927.
The „golden cup“ in the hand of the woman who is „drunk with the blood of the saints“ is replaced in the 1992 Pepsi Commercial DREAMS with the Pepsi can.
picture: 1992 Michael Jackson Pepsi Commercial DREAMS.
The „golden cup“ in the hand of the woman who is „drunk with the blood of the saints“ is replaced in the DREAMS with the Pepsi can.
picture: The image of the woman of Babylon on the „seven-headed beast of the apocalypse“ in 1927, movie „Metropolis“ and 1992 with Michael Jackson, Pepsi commercial DREAMS.
The pop group „Queen“ with Freddie Mercury quoted the movie „Metropolis“ and the theme of „Babylon“ in their video „Radio Ga Ga“ in 1984. Mercury thereby played the role of the enslaved human and the false Maria. All Queen members represented the „Whore of Babylon“ on stage when they were surrounded and worshipped by „fans“. source
picture: The images from the music video by the group „Queen“ in 1984 and the film „Metropolis“ from 1927. source
The woman of Babylon in „scarlet and purple“ is quoted by Madonna in 1984 in „Material Girl“ with a simultaneous homage to Marilyn Monroe who performed „Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend“ from the film „Gentlemen Prefer Blondes“ (Howard Hawks) in 1949. Theme of the film: desire for material things and the „mother of prostitution“.
picture: Madonna quoted 1987 in her video „Express Yourself“ the 1927 „Moloch“ from „Metropolis„.(pictures: all from YouTube.)
Whitney Houston quoted character of the false „Machine-Maria“ with scenes from „Metropolis“ in her 1992 film „Bodyguard“ and in the song „Queen of the Night“. Whitney’s costume strongly resembles the look of the „Machine-Maria“ from 1927.
„I have the stuff that you want. I am the thing that you need.“
Whitney Houston in „Queen of the Night“, 1992, Bodyguard.
picture: Whitney Houston’s performance in the film „Bodyguard“ with the song „Queen of the Night“ in 1992 based on the character of „Machine Mary“ source YouTube
In Michael Jackson’s DREAMS from 1992, the woman disappears again, but Jackson seems obsessed with her. For Michael Jackson, there was long before 1992 no turning back. And it doesn’t look as if the woman had to be particularly persuasive. In a mad rush, he now crosses that border, that symbolic river, where he first stopped at the beginning of the film. That border, that river, which he presented to his audience in 1988 in MOONWALKER as a warning and he also had depicted on his album cover DANGEROUS in 1991. Michael Jackson had crossed borders and he had not been deterred from crossing the DANGEROUS line in DREAMS as well.
Back to Michael Jackson’s „Dreams“ from 1992
In Michael Jackson’s DREAMS from 1992, the woman disappears at first again, but Jackson seems obsessed with her. For Michael Jackson, there was long before 1992 no turning back. And it doesn’t look as if the woman had to be particularly persuasive. In a mad rush, he now crosses that border, that symbolic river, where he first stopped at the beginning of the film. That border, that river, which he presented to his audience in 1988 in MOONWALKER as a warning and he also had depicted on his album cover DANGEROUS in 1991. Michael Jackson had crossed borders and he had not been deterred from crossing the DANGEROUS line in DREAMS as well.
Picture: Does Michael Jackson cross a line in his 1992’s „Dreams“ after failing to resist the temptations of woman? source
Light in a „Place without No Name“ in Michael Jacksons DREAMS
Michael Jackson’s hunt proceeds through misty, deep blue worlds to a desert place. Here Jackson is lost. Disorientated in A PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME 8. (By the way, „Neverland“ is a place without a name as well.) The colors change. Is there light on the horizon or is a period of life finally coming to an end here? A deserted place without no name. Does here more than just one day in the life of Michael Jackson come to an end?
Picture: 1992 Michael Jackson arrived in (his?) „Dreams“ in some sort of Neverland. Maybe that was a „Place without no name“.
The late P.T. Barnum seems to have been there before him.
The nightmare in DREAMS is coming to an end and Barnum, of all people, master of show business, leads the way for Michael Jackson. To the EXITUS on the DANGEROUS cover. Where kids are playing? Where people are happy and have nothing to fear? On Jackson’s DANGEROUS cover, this is the area of death: EXITUS is where the death can be found.
The images in DREAMS are reminiscent of the original story about Peter Pan and the lost children. Maybe it was an escape into the world of innocence. source
In 1999 Michael Jackson sang the following in his song PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME:
„As she took me right through the fog/I see a beautiful city appear/Where kids are playin‘ and people are laughin‘ and smiling/and nothing to fear“
Michael Jackson, 1999 in PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME. 9
The DREAMS by Michael Jackson in the Kingdom of death
In Michael Jackson’s DREAMS, which, like so many of his artworks, deal with death, this unknown woman finally seduces him. Jackson dances and unites himself with the woman. Just like he did with BILLIE JEAN and DIRTY DIANA. Each time he sang with urgency that it was dangerous, but each time he could not resist.
In DREAMS, Michael Jackson unites with the woman. He dances with her. But the location seems unreal. Like a dream. Some sort of „kingdom of death“. It is the same place as portrayed in the circle of life on his album cover DANGEROUS by painter Mark Ryden. The King of Pop dances in the spotlight in the realm of EXITUS on DANGEROUS, and he even makes the death as part of the Jackson-show.
The DREAMS and by Michael Jackson become a nightmare
In 1992, Michael Jackson describes of all things in a commercial, that his lust for fame and success will lead him to his death. In the nightmare of DREAMS, the Pepsi company ultimately overruns the star. This is the death of the star. And the truck that kills Michael Jackson looks like an all-consuming, gigantic mouth that has always symbolized the mouth of the Last Judgment in old biblical paintings.
Michael Jackson’s Pepsi commercial in the setting of the DANGEROUS cover turned out to be his nightmare. But then, how much of Jackson’s nightmares are in the illustrations of the dreams on his DANGEROUS cover? Sadly, Michael Jackson’s desire for success in the industry of entertainment not only cost him his life in his dreams of 1992, but eventually in the reality of 2009. Michael Jackson had made his fear of that a constant theme in his art.
Related articles:
Quellen
- Dangerous: The Short Films, Chris Cadman: Michael Jackson – The Maestro. The Definitive A-Z, Volume I: A-J/Volume II: K-Z; 2013/2015, Michael Jacksons Pepsi-Deal.
- Jackson, Michael, PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME, 2014, posthumous „Xscape“ Album
- Jackson, Michael, PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME, 2014, posthumous „Xscape“ Album
- Jackson, Michael, PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME, 2014, posthumous „Xscape“ album
- Jackson, Michael, PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME, 2014, posthumous „Xscape“ album
- Jackson, Jermaine, „Word to the Badd“, 1991, Quelle YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11bH1DRdXqc
- Jackson, Michael, DANGEROUS, 1991.11.26., Album: DANGEROUS, EPIC, source .
- Jackson, Michael, PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME, 2014, posthumous „Xscape“ album
- Jackson, Michael, PLACE WITHOUT NO NAME, released posthumous in 2014 „Xscape“ album