Lucasfilm Joins Search for Missing Phantom Menace Pepsi Machine in Pittsburgh
A Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Pepsi vending machine in Pittsburgh has disappeared, and Lucasfilm is asking for help finding it.
One of the strangest surviving relics of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace promotion has vanished. A themed Pepsi vending machine that had been operating in Pittsburgh since 1999 is gone, and Lucasfilm is now publicly trying to help track it down.
When The Phantom Menace arrived in 1999, the movie’s marketing reach was everywhere, including a line of Pepsi vending machines decorated for the release. One of those machines lasted far longer than most promotional tie-ins, staying in regular operation outside a firehouse in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington neighborhood.
That machine built a following of its own. It became a local landmark, and Star Wars fans made trips specifically to see it. In 2022, Pepsi reportedly donated $10,000 worth of soda to help keep it stocked.
Now, the original machine is missing. In its place is a newer vending machine featuring similar Star Wars artwork, though the design appears to be hand drawn rather than matching the older unit. Why the original was removed, and where it went, remain unclear.
Lucasfilm is asking for information
The disappearance has now drawn attention from official Star Wars accounts. The franchise’s social media account asked whether anyone knew where the original machine was, and Lucasfilm public relations executive Chris Coxall followed with a public request for help, saying the studio would like to assist in getting it back.
The situation has attracted extra attention because the replacement machine closely resembles the missing one, making the swap feel even more unusual to fans who knew the original. There has also been focus on a TikTok creator who had previously commented about wanting to take the machine, but no evidence has been presented tying that person to its disappearance.
For Star Wars fans, the change is simple but disappointing: a long-running piece of Phantom Menace history that was still out in the world has been replaced, and the search for the original is now out in the open. Anyone with information is effectively being asked to speak up now that Lucasfilm has joined the effort.
