Pepsi returns to irreverence; Coke reacts with 'contempt'

It wasn't obvious. Yet, to the keen eye, Pepsi's theme advertising in India in 2001 appeared somewhat out of its depth, so to say. Starting with the Preity Zinta-Jaggu commercial, all the way to the Amitabh Bachchan-Yash Pathak ad, there was something vaguely uncharacteristic - ‘un-Pepsi' - about the brand's advertising.

‘Uncharacteristic' should not be confused with ‘bad', mind you. The Bachchan and kid commercial, especially, appears to have won quite a few hearts (even making it to the Top Ten ranking in the agencyfaqs! Hot Spot Poll). It also found favour with this year's Triple A Awards jury, for one. But while this might vindicate the advertising we saw last year, something was surely missing, somewhere.

And that something is the hallmark ‘Pepsi attitude'. The distinguishing traits of irreverence and cheek, essentially. Mostly because all of last year Pepsi was 'responding' to Coke's offensive. As Shripad Nadkarni, vice-president (marketing), Coca-Cola India, puts it, "All of last year, their advertising was a reaction."

Which is why Pepsi's first salvo in 2002 deserves mention. For, with the latest ad for the brand - featuring new endorsers Fardeen Khan and Rahul Khanna - Pepsi seems to have re-embraced the ‘irreverence' platform.

The ad is about two young friends, both inveterate Pepsi lovers, vacationing on a beach. As they roam the beach, they notice two soft drink stalls - one, a Pepsi stall, the other, suggestively branded ‘Cola-Cola'. Both stalls have advertised the need for hands. While one of the friends decides to work for Pepsi (naturally), the other mysteriously opts to work at the rival stall.

Well, it turns out to be one hell of a hectic job for the Pepsi-walla friend, trying to keep up with the constant demand for Pepsi. He, however, notices that one kid keeps coming back for Pepsi every now and then. Finally, out of sheer curiosity (and a bit of fatigue-induced irritation), he asks the kid how many Pepsi's he drinks. The kid replies that the Pepsi's are actually for ‘a friend'. The Pepsi seller asks the kid what his friend does, to which the kid replies, ‘Kuch nahin karta hai. Pura din khali baitha rehta hai.'

Well, as it turns out, this ‘friend' is the chap who opted for the ‘Cola-Cola' job. He is seen happily slouching in the deserted Cola-Cola stall… quaffing Pepsis by the dozen. ‘Life ho to aisi,' he winks at the no-work-all-money life he is leading.

Youth, cheek, attitude, one-upmanship… The mainstay of all Pepsi advertising is back. "Yes, we are rediscovering the Pepsi irreverence with this commercial," says Rohit Ohri, vice-president and client services director, HTA. However, Ohri denies that this has anything to do with the fact that the Bachchan-Pathak ad was too ‘family-ish' to suit the younger lot. "You'll be surprised to know that the Bachchan ad did the best among the 18-to-24 age band," he says. "This was thrown up by our research in the five metros. So the question of ‘reconnecting with the youth' is out. Pepsi is Youth."

But he does admit that the latest commercial does bring back some of the old Pepsi flavour. "There are many ways of connecting with the youth - irreverence is one of them," he says. "The whole issue was to bring back the irreverence of Pepsi; the cheekiness that many felt was kind of missing in the earlier ad."

In this context, what Deepak Jolly, executive vice-president - corporate communications, Pepsi Foods, has to say, is also significant. "We are back with irreverence and fun, but the whole idea is to extend the concept of ‘Yeh dil maange more', and have many facets of that."

The key word here is ‘fun', an essential element in Pepsi's voice. And because that ‘fun' had been tucked away somewhere last year, the Pepsi voice sounded cracked. In fact, ever since rival Coca-Cola India unleashed the ‘Grow Up to Thums Up Challenge', Pepsi's advertising appeared to be very defensive, very self-conscious. The advertising (through the Cyrus-Amrish Puri and Lehar Soda ads) was seen as being more reactive than proactive. And even Pepsi's legal recourse over copyright infringement - the alleged use of the line ‘Yeh dil maange more' by Thums Up in a derogatory manner - was viewed as a ‘crybaby' reaction, unbecoming of a seasoned campaigner.

Ohri, of course, negates the suggestion that Pepsi was ‘reactive' last year. "I wouldn't agree there was anything defensive about our strategy last year," he maintains. "The idea was to rip apart some part of their advertising. The events were like this: Thums Up attacked Pepsi, and Pepsi made a statement, loud and clear - ‘Who wants to grow up?' Was it an answer to them? Was it in defense? No, it was statement. A supremely confident Pepsi saying this is how we are. What was defensive about that?"

He also insists that the Thums Up Challenge has not had any negative impact on Pepsi. "Our research shows the Thums Up advertising as being disliked by teens. However, we looked at Thums Up's onslaught as an opportunity to restate what Pepsi stands for - being young, having fun." And Jolly defends the legal route thus: "Last year's advertising went into a legal recourse purely on two counts - infringement of trademark, and lifting of a copyrighted tagline."

Which brings us to the latest Pepsi ad, which freely uses Coke's line ‘Life ho to aisi'. What about an infringement here? "Our ad flouts none," says Jolly. "That's pretty much it - copyright versus no copyright," adds Ohri. "We are talking about this brand Cola-Cola. And we are saying, ‘Okay, sue us the way we sued you.' But you will be amazed that there has been no reaction from ‘them'."

To get a reaction, agencyfaqs! got in touch with Coca-Cola India. "Pepsi has been reacting to us all over," says Shripad Nadkarni, vice-president (marketing), Coca-Cola India. "All of last year, their advertising was a reaction. Once Thums Up threw the challenge, they reacted with the Cyrus ad, which sank without a trace. Then they did that laughable Lehar Soda ad that also bombed. And this year, they have reacted to our new line, ‘Life ho to aisi', with this new ad. Pepsi seems to be in a reactionary mode, so good luck to them."

But what about the use of the line ‘Life ho to aisi' in the ad? After all, last year, Pepsi took exception to Thums Up using the Pepsi line? "We never used ‘Yeh dil maange more'," Nadkarni points out. "All we said was, ‘Kyon, maange more?' and ‘Yeh dil maange no more', in a very creative manner. And we are treating their use of our line with the contempt it deserves. We are on to new things. And they will follow. All I can say is, today, we are setting the agenda, and they are following."

Ohri, of course, clarifies that this commercial is not only about sniping at a rival. "It's not just a funny dig, but also about the lives of young people. Just chilling, summer jobs, one-upmanship…" And irreverence.

Additional reporting: Alokananda Chakraborty © 2002 agencyfaqs!