Akshay Kumar may be India’s thumbs up to Daniel Craig

Last year’s James Bond thriller, ‘Casino Royale’, did more than just provoke its audiences into debates about actor Daniel Craig playing Bond for the very first time.

While viewers were flocking to cinema halls to check out the film and Craig, Coca-Cola India and Leo Burnett executives were busy figuring out how to integrate the stunts the film featured into the new Thums Up commercial. They found their answer in one simple word: Yamakasi. This is an extreme sport popularised by the French, which involves a series of stunts/hurdles you go through to reach from one point to another. For those who have seen the movie, the opening shot has Craig chasing a thug in the Yamakasi mode. And if you missed it, just catch the action in the Thums Up TVC.

The ad has Akshay Kumar calculating something mentally on his 10th floor balcony. Suddenly, he gets into action mode and jumps freestyle from the balcony, landing on the terrace of another building. Using a nearby rope to haul himself downwards, Kumar reaches a basement of sorts, flitting from place to place at top speed.

Leaping from wall to wall and jumping from staircases and escalators with effortless ease, Kumar finally reaches his destination, a road where a truck laden with Thums Up is passing by. Cut to Kumar back in his balcony in a flashback sequence, and it becomes clear that he saw the Thums Up truck from afar and was calculating the distance in the opening shot.

Back to the present: Just as the truck is about to run into Kumar, he moves deftly out of its way and grabs a bottle of his favourite drink, even as the truck is whizzing past him. The next shot has him back at home, gazing at an empty Thums Up bottle on the table. His girlfriend mocks him, “Aakhri Thums Up khatam? Oh… Main kuch aur laati hoon (Finished the last Thums Up? I’ll get you something else).”

At that, Kumar takes a swig from his new bottle and says, “Aakhri Thums Up? Voh kya hota hai (Last Thums Up? What’s that)?” His envious girlfriend looks on as Kumar relishes his drink.

To complete the international look and feel, the ad has been shot in Sydney, Australia, by Abhinay Deo of Ramesh Deo Productions; the music has been composed by Ram Sampath. The stunt coordination has been done by the internationally acclaimed Chris Anderson (part of the stunt coordination team of ‘Mission Impossible II’).

According to Saraban, the commercial is in line with the ‘Anything For Thunder’ attitude of the Thums Up male. “From the early bungee-jumping ad to this one, Thums Up has always stood for effortlessness and a liberal amount of attitude and brawn,” he says.

Kashmira Chadha, director, marketing, Coca-Cola India, says, “The Thums Up man is a person who will do anything to get his favourite soft drink. Nothing can come between him and his Thums Up, not even seemingly un-scalable hurdles.”

To drive this message forward, an integrated communication plan involving both above and below the line initiatives is being rolled out, including contests and road shows.

The last campaign for Thums Up featured actor Kunal Kapoor of ‘Rang De Basanti’ fame, performing daredevil stunts. According to industry watchers, that didn’t go down too well with the consumers because Kapoor was perceived as being too mild a personality for the tough image the brand had built up over the years. “Well, Akshay Kumar has always been the face for Thums Up,” responds a Coca-Cola India spokesperson. “Kunal Kapoor was not our brand ambassador, only cast in the film as an actor.”

Well, going by the consumer response to Kapoor’s association with the drink, bringing Akshay Kumar back into the thick of the action may just prove to be the right move for the cola major.

© 2007 agencyfaqs!