Pele – Brazil

Year: 1974
Artist: Unknown
Dimensions: 42 x 28
 
Click here to see this poster for sale at the Pan Am Posters eBay store.
 
In the mid-1970s, Pele was so recognizable, that no country is reflected on this poster … this is the only Pan Am poster that does not explicitly refer to a destination with a country or city name. Just an iconic image of Pele and the Pan Am logo... two global icons at the height of their fame. 
 
Known worldwide by his first name, actually his nickname, Edson Arantes do Nascimento lived in the super stratosphere of global celebrities in the 1960s-1970s. Towards the end of Pele's playing career in the 1970s, he endorsed major global brands like Puma, Pepsi and Pan Am.
 
This iconic Pan Am Pele poster occassionally pops up with hand signed autographs.... and there is a story for that. In 1974, Pan Am hosted a publicity event at JFK to celebrate the launch of 747 service from New York to Rio de Janeiro and Pele was on hand to autograph a few posters. The Pan Am event agent saved a few of the autophraphed posters, which eventually found their way to David Pollack, a vintage poster dealer based in Wilmington Delaware. 
 
Needless to say, while both Pele and Pan Am are gone, they are not forgotten, and these Pele posters are in very high demand, with or without autographs.