It has been one of the longest ad brand wars we have witnessed. And, probably, the costliest. Most certainly it is the most pointless. I am referring to the continuing battles and skirmishes between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. The first to return to India after a early and very short-lived initial foray into the Indian market many decades ago, Pepsi launched itself using global creatives, including poor cousin Indian adaptations to conform to DD's some time directive that only Made In India advertising could be released on our desi channels.This `phoren' approach bombed and a quick switch was made to locally focused advertising featuring home grown celebrities. Then Coke re-entered announcing its arrival with an Indian rendition of the famous Hill Top commercial. This short and sharp burst of nostalgia was followed by a series of ads with varying and variable creatives.Soon cricket mania hit the two fizz players with a vengeance. A galaxy of star players was signed on by both sides at ``celestial'' fees truly the sky was the limit! One of the earliest high profile battles that kicked off the on-going Pop War was the sneaky `Nothing Official About It' campaign mounted by Pepsi. Poor Coke, the official drink of the cricket series, suddenly found themselves on the defensive.The vast sums paid to secure these sponsorship rights no longer seemed money well spent. Carried away with their ad coup, Pepsi struck again when they spoofed the `Eat Cricket! Sleep Cricket! Drink Only Coca-Cola' campaign. One can still remember the relish with which Sachin and Azhar devoured cricket bats and lulled themselves to sleep.More recently the arena has shifted to the world of the movies. Once again the stars this time both male and female have been paid astronomical sums to sign up for either Coke or Pepsi. One again the brands take second place to the celebrities featured in colourful, skillful and generally frenetic ads. Once again Pepsi works hard to upstage Coke. But this time they have perhaps bitten off more than they can chew. Quite literally, too.Envying Coke their coup in signing up the latest, hottest heartthrob, of the Indian silver screen Hrithik Roshan Pepsi tried their old tactic of spoofing Coke. Their Pepsi `Spinning Bottle' ad fails on several fronts.The main fault lies in attacking almost every Indian's cult Hero No 1. By mucking around with his teeth, they have succeeded in turning off millions of his fans not off him but off Pepsi. They also feature their hero Shahrukh Khan as a little bit of a cheat, having him move the bottle away from the kid to make himself the winner an extraordinary act of self destruction.Finally, old fashioned as I am, I certainly did not find the little boy pouting his lips for the anticipated kiss, a great role model!As we wait for the next bout in the battle of the colas, perhaps we should take that famous `Pause that Refreshes'. For the uninitiated this was one of the many famous lines that made Coca-Cola the world's best selling soft drink. And while we have the time maybe we can ask ourselves: What has all this frenetic, star-struck advertising achieved for both the brands? What values and relationships do we have with Pepsi or Coke or both?While for me, Raang Jamat Hai Coca-Cola, I will leave you to work out the answers to my questions with a bottle, can or glass of your favourite ice cold fizz. Enjoy!
