Clearly this one is not for the straw-sipping wimps. Aamir Khan in Coke’s latest piyo sar utha ke ad. A series of images of people raising their heads, in different emotions – in prayer, in gratitude, in hope, in celebration, in joy, in relief… And Aamir Khan in the end, raising a Coke bottle to his lips, drinking with his head high up.
The ad made me sit up and take notice. Another in the series of good ads from Coke featuring Aamir Khan (although the ads have not created the kind of waves that the original thanda matlab line did, upsetting Pepsi’s Yeh pyaas hai badi). And when was the last time I saw a good ad from Pepsi…? A few initial thoughts on this ad, on the Coke Pepsi ads and on emotional appeals in advertising…
The idea – drink Coke with your head up in pride. Subtle association of the brand with other positive emotions… Never hurts a brand, although it may not help either.
The route– when all else fails, fall back on the emotional “pride in your brand” pitch. Old hat maybe, but as I said, never hurts. Pepsi has Shah Rukh saying (singing /stuttering) and doing good things for that brand; Coke drinkers, this one is for you to feel good about your choice.
I think it is a good time to introduce such a route since this is not peak season for cold drinks. The timing makes it possible for the consumer to get used to the idea, identify with the emotion and become fonder of the brand – ideally. Low risk as compared to peak summer season where the need is clearly for a tangible and relevant benefit – thanda matlab Coca Cola worked, but as the line starts getting thanda, it is now time for a change…
The message – does piyo sar utha ke have the punch that thanda matlab does…? I wonder whether the consumer does not feel foolish saying ‘my brand of sweetened carbonated drink, and I am oh, so proud of it’? I have seen that pride as an appeal works best in times of “conflict” – for instance, a cricket match we all feel compelled to prove our loyalty to our country…
The icon – Ah, Shah Rukh Khan versus Aamir Khan. The problem is, Shah Rukh stays Shah Rukh, in whatever he attempts. While Aamir becomes the character. So, any Pepsi ad I see now is just another Shah Rukh ad. Pepsi has been piggy-backing on Shah Rukh’s popularity with the young for a while now, without bothering about minor irritants like a decent creative idea.
See this : 
, and this : 
. And you’ll know what I mean.
Luckily for them, Shah Rukh remains a favourite among the target consumer group – the John Abrahams may come and go but Shah Rukh has stayed on. Aamir Khan does not compare. Is bringing in more “youth icons” such as Mona Jassi Singh and Rajyavardhan Silver Rathore going to help Coke now? Given that their iconic status is dubitable at best…
And finally, the brand – in my mind, the recent Coke ads with Aamir Khan are far superior in terms of creative ideas and just plain likeability. As compared to this, the Pepsi ads have no clear theme – Oye Bubbly what beyond a catchy jingle? Why snake charmer – we do not need yet another “India+culture” stereotype reinforcement, thank you.
Having said all that, I am forced to admit that as a brand, I like Pepsi far more – and I say this as a confirmed Cola non-drinking, market-watching person. It has to do with the kind of consistent and immensely appealing communication route that Pepsi took early on in the Cola wars in India. Pepsi understood the pulse of the younger generation and spoke to them right away in their language. Some of the most memorable lines have come from Pepsi – yahi hai right choice baby, aha! (at a time when ‘baby’ in India was still hip-speak and “cool”), yeh dil maange more (for a generation seeking to break traditional confines), nothing official about it (when Coke won sponsorship rights for the 1996 world cup)… Even when Coke had the bigger stars, including Aishwarya Rai.
Bottom line : I like the new Coke ad; it is a overflowing with feel good elements (including Aamir Khan) – but I have no hopes on what it is going to do for the brand. Coke had in thanda matlab, clear and appealing brand positioning – they need to come up with one more before the next season begins. Feel good is all very good, but it is just not enough.
Woah! brilliant analysis.
Great post, Totally agree with you, pepsi had its share of good ads, but right now cokes ‘ piyo sar utha ke’ ad scores way over pepsi’s ‘Saphera’ ad.
Ravages, Varkey, thanks! (the sapera ad is truly terrible, isn’t it?)
I haven’t watched more than a minute of television for the last two years, and this was by choice – I think tv is largely crap. But about a month ago, I started doubting myself, so I turned on the tv. I saw the Sapera ad, and turned off the tv, satisfied, at least for the next two years, that I am right.
I agree coke with its Sar utake is gaining the upper hand (pun intended? I don’t know) But I like the sapera ad for two reasons.
A) Fun ad that gets SRK in his clowny best
B) You don’t have to think too much or attach too much to drinking cola, it needs to be a low impulse thing and trying to give it a inner significance like coke does is unnecessary, to me.
I am not gonna say tomorrow, “Hey, i’m thirsty, what do I drink…let’s see. I want to feel proud about being thirsty, so i will drink Coke” – there’s just two three layers more than necessary in this ad. On the other hand, there’s no intellectualisation in the pepsi stuff. have fun, drink pepsi, and get the goodies at the end of the day (in terms of all those pepsi bottles)
Aamir, Shahrukh, Amitabh, Aishwarya, Sachin…. No matter who they are, finally they are selling glorified phosphoric acid.. err… pesticide!
“I wonder whether the consumer does not feel foolish saying ‘my brand of sweetened carbonated drink, and I am oh, so proud of it’? ” – Charukesi
“I am not gonna say tomorrow, “Hey, i’m thirsty, what do I drink…let’s see. I want to feel proud about being thirsty, so i will drink Coke†” – Ravages
In my view, the sort of association expected to be brought out in the line “sar uthake” doesn’t aim at the rational thinking process. You keep hearing such a tagline and over time, subconsciously, the message gets registered in the mind; and you associate the brand with ego/ pride, without you yourself getting to know of it. Its not a conscious effort as one might think.
Though not particularly in this context, I have seen people who used to pride themselves that they could see through sales pitches. One of my friends sure boasted so – and in the end, she was sold -volumes of encyclopedia! I was present at the “Point of sale”. The sales person used a simple trick. He didnt set out to list down all the merits of the series or that knowledge was a virtue. He promised and convinced her that he was a voracious reader of anything and everything and he himself fell in love with this particular set. He rolled out a few names of popular books and authors (associated himself with love for books, knowing that she loved books – why else would someone entertain an encyclopedia sales person!) and he quoted a few sections from the Encyclpoedia series, which he said, interested him profusely. The trick – he quoted them and then reached out for the quotes in the books, browsing through them (established that he is well read indeed). Now, the sales pitch had become an “Expert Power”! She was impressed! Despite all my efforts to make her postpone the decision and sleep over it, she placed the order right away (it did cost a lot to buy the set). And, she was sure that it was a conscious, rational decision, which she made deliberately.
One wouldn’t wait for a cricket match or a war to feel proud – everyone feels proud, all the time. And everyone would want to rise above the rest! Not many people hold those painted tins in their hands to tell the world that they felt thirsty; they make some other statement, instead!
This might not be a bad idea, after all! And I feel, though it might not be as appealing as the “thanda matlab..” line, I have a feeling that this might be even more effective!
Both the ads–Coke and Pepsi are “thanda” and I don’t mean cool! But Coke’s is slightly better because Pepsi’s is terrible. Why Sapera? And as one of you said, SRK stays SRK, whether it is films or ads. And what price the Lux ad? SRK, the next beauty queen! As for Aamir and Aishwarya associated with Coke, do you remember long long ago, when Pepsi first came to India, they appeared together in the “borrow from the neighbour” ad?
Aditya, good for you! I find tv mostly crap but sit and watch at regular intervals just to catch up with the latest ads :))
Ravages, SRK at clowny best is every single thing he does in life. seen the lux ad? true, cola drinking is low invovlement to most – but then after saying sweet carbonated drink, what else can a brand say?! therefore, the sar uthake (does it also mean bottoms up?) numbers…
Shashikant, actually most people believe that these guys (celebrities) ae not actually selling anything at all – that the money spent on them is money down the drain. but that is another story altogether!
Krish, in some categories, this pride / status thingy works, and in some, I think it makes no difference. but like I keep saying, good or no good, it causes no harm, so Coke may as well run with it! (I loved the ad though)
Lak – the lux ad is yuck. but is just right for SRK 🙂 right now, I prefer the Coke ads to the Pepsi ones.
hmm.. i really liked the coke ad and dont see what the fuss is all about. At least it doesnt make you cringe like the pepsi ad.in fact the whole ‘sar utake piyo’ fanda has such a feel good factor about it that i dont mind watching it over and over again. but that annoying’ oye bubly’ song starts getting to me if i have to hear it one too many a time. its like the new tata indicom ad with kajol and ajay devgan( chal chala chal, chal chala chal, chal chal chal chal) ugh!the tune is so annoyingly catchy that even if you dont like it, it keeps ringing in your head for the rest of the day.i think it should be made mandatory to play the ads continuously to the makers itself and see if they can watch it all day.only then should it be released to the public, what say???
i think the coke ad featuring aamir is among the best in the ad circle ….its creativity and picturization is awesome ….specially the punch line …so ahead of pepsi..
Aamir Khan is a true patriotic, but more than that he is a true humanitarian & he has proved himself to be above the petty politics of BJP &
Congress. He is also especially articulate & smart, which was quite clear in the way he fielded questions in the press conference, where he has
categoricaly stated that he is not against the people of Gujarat, nor is he against the building of the dam & the resulting progress. He has just raised
his voice to ensure that the poor people who lose out due to the dam-building exercise be rehabilitated by the government & not short-changed. I as a
true Indian, fully support & endorse his views!
BJP, as a poltical party is itself divided on this front, with half of their representatives claiming that they have no issues against Aamir & the other
half putting up half-baked arguments against him & asking him to appologise! Appologise for what??? For supporting & speaking out for the
downtrodden, poor people? Or appologise to appease the ego of the BJP politicians, for whom it has become more of a ego hassle by now!!! The
so-called Leaders of our Country do not even have strong, logical reasons or arguments as to why they want Aamir’s film to be banned or why he
should appologise. On the contrary, Aamir has been very lucid & clear in stating his stand.
As far as endorsing of products is concerned, there is not even a single actor or sportsperson who has not endorsed a single product till now & do
you all believe that they actually use or even stand by the product they endorse. It is his profession as an actor to act in films & commercials, so why
blame him for that. Why don’t the misled people of Gujarat boycott all those corrupt polticians who fill their pockets & languish in luxury, while
inciting their stooges to do their biding & crush anybody who dare to oppose them?
I am glad that Aamir’s film has only benefited from the controversy & has had an record opening. It is also clear that BJP is full of bullies, who drop
subtle & not-so-subtle hints of destroying people who dare to stand against them. It is clear that even the followers of this party are hooligans, who
resort to violent means & strong-handed tactics against anybody who exercises their freedom of expression. Also, the film industry is full of
hypocrites, none of who have voiced their support for Aamir, but stand behind traitors & brutes like Salman Khan & Sanjay Dutt. It is a shame that
Aamir Khan is not interested in politics, otherwise he would have made a excellent Prime Minister, better at any rate than the spineless old codger
who calls himself the Prime-minister of our great, democratic country. I think Aamir is a youth icon & has the balls to stand up against the corrupt &
petty minded politicians & the foolish followers, who seem to exist just to do their bidding, mindlessly. I support him completely.