While Coca-Cola and Pepsi are properties deeply rooted in American culture, it was the Japanese divisions of these companies that really took their Star Wars campaigns to stellar heights. With Coca-Cola carrying the Star Wars license for the original trilogy and Pepsi picking it up for the prequels, both companies had full-blown Star Wars campaigns that far outgrew their international affiliates.
In the US, Coke had offered drinking glasses, plastic cups and posters through their fountain drink distribution channels. Japan, however, offered over 50 collectible bottle caps, t-shirts, key chains, stickers, posters, and even a beautifully modeled R2-D2 AM radio with Coca-Cola branding.
For the prequels, US consumers of Pepsi products saw some beverage container graphics and a few in-store premiums associated with the campaign. In Japan, the films received hundreds of fully-sculpted 3-D character bottle caps plus a bunch of amazing premiums -- sculpted can holders (including a huge MTT tank to hold a bunch!), magnets, figural bottles, an R2-D2-shaped cooler, can toppers, snack clips, and collector stages to house the bottle caps.
The image below depicts two Japanese soda premiums -- a 1978 R2-D2 AM radio from Coca-Cola on the left, and a 2006 bottle holder from Pepsi Twist on the right (from the collection of Steve Sansweet).
