Think back to 1990… what was happening? The Reds won the Series, the Niners won the Super Bowl. Bush Sr. was Time’s Man of the Year even though he famously hated broccoli, and Jim Henson died. You couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,” and the cool kids were walking around in Hammer pants. Michael Bolton was on the radio, Pretty Woman was in theaters and Cheers was on the tube.

What else happened in 1990? The cola wars raged on. In fact, it was in 1990 that Coke and Pepsi tried to outdo one another with some mega-cool cans. Anyone old enough to buy a can of soda has to remember Pepsi’s Cool Cans that were one of the hottest items in the summer of 1990. From Memorial Day until July 4 Pepsi distributed four promotional can designs: Confetti, neon, sunglasses and motifs. Prior to the promotion, Pepsi hadn’t changed its can design since 1979, and the Cool Cans were wildly popular. Or course the prizes didn’t hurt. A dollar amount–$1, $5, $25 and more—was printed on the bottoms of certain cans and could be redeemed for cash.

The promotion wasn’t without controversy, however. Some winner who had way too much time on his hands figured out if he stacked two of the Neon cans on top of each other and turn them just the right way, the design actually spelled “sex.” Of course, Pepsi denied any intentional placement.

Meanwhile, also in the summer of 1990, Coca-Cola ran its own promotion—MagiCans that dispensed cash and gift certificates. Considered a technological feat at the time, winning cans were equipped with spring-loaded devices that were intended to pop rolled dollar bills—from $1 to $500—or gift certificates out of the cans’ openings when the tabs were pulled.

Wouldn’t customers know which cans contain soda and which contained paper based on weight? Coke tried to prevent this scenario by adding a chamber of chlorinated water to the winning cans that contained ammonium sulfate—a harmless, foul-smelling substance.

Unfortunately for Coke, the promotion went bust. Some of its spring mechanisms didn’t work, and before long the problem appeared to be so widespread Coke had to run ads in 50 newspapers advising customers to “Take A Good Look” at their cans. Then some of the winning cans started to leak the smelly liquid. In fact, when an 11-year-old kid drank the nasty liquid from a winning can, and his parents smelled it, they freaked. Apparently they hadn’t heard of the promotion, and neither had their local police department. Eventually, they found his soggy $5 bill, and Coke sent his some coupons to compensate for the trouble. But you know how rumors start. By the time it was all said and done, reports stated the stinky fluid in the winning cans had killed a kid.

Unfortunately, due to all the confusion, Coke had to cancel its MagiCan promotion early. Instead it gave away tickets to the New Kids on the Block Magic Summer Tour: Another highlight of 1990.