Growing up... on Thums Up and Pepsi's Lehar soda?
Ratna Bhushan
NEW DELHI, May 22
SOFT drinks major Pepsi Foods is taking on arch rival Coca-Cola India's Thums Up taste challenge head on. The in-your-face `Have You grown up to Thums Up?' film now has an equally aggressive retort in the form of Lehar, Pepsi Foods' brand of soda.
While the currently-on-air Thums Up film is about attempting to make Thums Up taste like the rival cola (with blurred voice-over), the Lehar soda film depicts an attempt to convert the soda into Grow Up tonic (an obvious reference to Thums Up).
The Lehar soda commercial does not stop at spoofing with look-alikes of Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen -- Thums Up's celebrity endorsers. The commercial also has a voice over that announces `toofani anda?', in a situation where crow droppings fall into the `tonic' glass. (`Toofani thanda' has been a distinct Thums Up sign off for several decades.)
The message that the new Lehar soda commercial attempts to convey, asserts Mr Brajesh Bajpai, Brand Manager (Lehar Soda), Pepsi Foods, is that Lehar remains the strongest soda in the market. "The idea of the commercial is to build on the platform of strength. It fits with the brand,'' he said. Hence the sign off -- `Lehar soda, strong soda', which incidentally is the same as last year.
Last year too, Pepsi Foods had taken on the `Grow up to Thums Up challenge' theme campaign with Lehar soda, also featuring a Salman look-alike. That was the first time Pepsi had decided to tap the electronic media for its low-profile Lehar soda brand.
Last year's Thums Up blind test challenge television campaign had resulted in Pepsi dragging Coca-Cola India to court for copyright infringement of its `dil maange more' adline. The Lehar soda film, created by agency Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA), is a 35-seconder and broke on mainline television channels a couple of days back.
According to industry estimates, the organised soda market is worth approximately Rs 200-crore, and Lehar soda is the market leader, followed by Coca-Cola's Kinley soda brand. "Lehar soda is the fastest growing soda brand and it grew by over 15 per cent last year. We expect to generate the same growth this year as well,'' Mr Bajpai said.
Lehar soda is available in 300 ml glass bottles priced between Rs 4-7 depending on the markets the brand is present in, besides 500 ml, 1.5 litre and 2 litre PET bottles.
So will there be a sequel to the Lehar soda ad? "We will take a call in 15 days' time,'' Mr Bajpai said.
