Max Headroom is the name of a fictional artificial intelligence, known for his surreal wit and a stuttering, distorted, electronically sampled delivery. The character was created by Peter Wagg, Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton and performed by Matt Frewer.
The [Max Headroom New Coke] campaign was launched with a memorable television commercial, produced by McCann-Erickson New York, with Max saying in his trademark stutter, “C-c-c-catch the wave!” and referring to his fellow “Cokeologists”. In a riposte to Pepsi’s televisual teasings, one showed Headroom asking a Pepsi can he was “interviewing” how it felt about more drinkers preferring the new Coke to it and then cut to the condensation forming on the can. “Sweating?” he asked. It was a huge success, and surveys likewise showed that more than three-quarters of the target market were aware of the ads within two days. Coke’s corporate hotline received more calls about him than any previous spokesperson, some even asking if he was married.