With the weather turning on the heat, the cola wars are too gathering some steam. And as is typical of the advertising in that industry, the latest commercials churned out are mostly lousy and in-your-face.
So starting the slide was the latest Pepsi commercial featuring SRK, Ranbir and Deepika. Watch the video here. Released in December (a month after Sawaariya and OSO thrust the Ranbir-Deepika pair into the limelight). This ad is probably the latest example of the generally mediocre commercials that Pepsi dishes out (Remember the largely forgettable SRK and John commercial anyone ?). They have certainly slid a long way from the first Pepsi ad in the late 1980s (remember Juhi and Remo ? or even Mahima, Aamir and Ash ? Compared to those standards, the 'Youngistan' ad certainly does not register.
Not to miss a chance, Sprite seems to have taken full advantage via its latest commercial (watch it here). A delightful spoof on the Pepsi ad, it drives home the point that for a large section of the viewers, simply having hot stars but little else does not work, be it a 3 hr movie or a 50 second commercial.
Amidst all this, the two other big brands have identified their brand identity and have accordingly maintained a consistent theme through the commercials. Coke's latest ad (with Hrithik as the sole star) has a sweet little jingle running through it and conveys the feeling of celebration quite well, something which Coke has been associated with it (recall the Diwali ads with Hrithik and Aishwariya). On the other hand, ThumsUp continues its projection as the young man's drink and accordingly has Akshay Kumar as its ambassador (though Akki not really the young Khiladi :).
Hopefully the next offering from Pepsi would be something to look forward to !!!
Cheers
Amit
