India’s cola ad war sizzles as more brands enter the battlefield

In the seventies and eighties, cola giants Pepsi and Coca-Cola confronted each other through advertising, one-upmanship being the aim and sales, of course. Today, we remember that time and its ads as the cola wars.

It has reared its head once again in India after Pepsi took to The Times of India's front page and social media to mock rival Coca-Cola over its Half Time campaign for the ICC Champions Trophy.  

Coca-Cola wanted people to have a drink during the half-time between two innings. Pepsi rolled out a campaign called Any Time – why wait for half-time when you can have a Pepsi anytime.

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The affected beverage hasn’t responded but other brands have decided to join this war, but as an individual participant. On March 11, 2025, Dabur-owned fruit-based juice brand Real Activ mocked all cola beverages for their high-sugar content. 

Through an ad in the Hindustan Times, Real Activ claimed a glass of cola contains five cubes of added sugars to each glass, unlike itself which is completely free of any such addictive additions.

“This campaign is another step in this direction to urge consumers to get Real by switching to Real Activ juices with 100% fruit goodness and no added sugar,” said Monisha Prasher, marketing head, of beverages, Dabur India.

Also Read: Cola clashes, sizzling summer & IPL: Beverage brands ready to pour 15-20% more into ads

Before it came Diary Giant Mother Diary. It posted a picture on social emphasising how one can drink milk anytime they want at half-time or anytime. 

Two non-cola brands dunking on an ad war that returned to India thirty years after it first started was unexpected. India first saw its own cola wars back in 1996 when Pepsi, after losing the official sponsorship of that year’s cricket world cup (hosted by India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal) to rival Coca-Cola, released Nothing Official About It, a nationwide campaign where it positioned itself as a chill brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously. 

It roped in the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, and Courtney Walsh, amongst others. 

One must note that India is expected to brave a hot summer, which has mostly likely promoted beverage brands to advertise earlier than expected. Saurabh Munjal, founder of Archian Foods, which is the parent company of Lahori Zeera told afaqs! The year’s advertising season started quite early. “Most brands usually launched campaigns post-Holi, but we saw several big-ticket campaigns in February itself." Since February, alongside Coca-Cola and Pepsi, several brands have doled out ads. These include Charged, Maaza, Sprite, Thums Up, Appy Fizz, Mirinda, and more.