Coke launches Pakistan ad in India

May 8th, 2008 Sana · No Comments

ADVERTISING: The 30-second commercial, created for consumers in Pakistan and West Asia, is being aired in India during the DLF IPL Twenty20 matches. Taking the ‘Jashn Mana Le’ tagline of Coke across the border, leading soft-drink company Coca-Cola India is using a 30-second Pakistani Coke television commercial in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 matches. This will be a first for Coca-Cola India where a television commercial created by Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) Lahore for consumers in Pakistan and West Asian countries is also airing on the Indian telly-screens, but with a changed tagline.

The Coca-Cola ad aired in West Asia and Pakistan had the tagline — Khale, Peele, Jilee. For the consumers at home, the tagline has been tweaked to Khale, Peelee, Jashn Mana Le — Coke’s current tagline that features actor Hrithik Roshan.

However, the Pakistani Coke commercial has no celebrities. “The ad features a group of friends having fun with a bottle of Coca-Cola while enjoying a meal at a restaurant. The fun of handling the bottle and pouring Coke in glasses has been developed into a sign language between youngsters that brings friends together and aids in bonding across the various tables in the restaurant,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said.

The Pakistani commercial, however, is not totally non-Indian. The commercial has been shot in a location in India with Indian models and is being customised by Coke’s domestic creative agency McCann Erickson, Delhi. According to industry sources, several leading advertising agencies from Pakistan use Indian locations and local talents to shoot television ad-campaigns in the country.

“Several Pakistani companies related to telecom, soaps, juices, butter etc shoot their television commercials in India but none of them have been used on Indian television. Therefore, this Pakistani Coke campaign may set a precedence for more international commercials to make a debut on the Indian telly-screens,” an advertising industry source said.

Giving the rationale behind airing this commercial on Indian television screens, a Coke executive said: “The influence of cricket and Bollywood has crossed borders and has had an overwhelming impact on complex subjects like India-Pakistan relations. We felt that ads could also contribute to the positive feel generated by IPL cricket and cinema.”

Coca-Cola is one of the six associate sponsors of IPL and is estimated to shell out Rs 20-23 crore on IPL alone.

Industry sources reveal that adopting international television campaigns into Hindi or regional languages is a proven formula of success for the ad-agencies. “Remember the earlier Pepsi commercial that featured Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Mahima Chawdhury (then called Ritu Chawdhury)? That ad was adapted from the US that featured actor Michael J Fox. Or the Surf commercial — Daag Acche Hain — has also been adopted into Hindi from an international campaign,” a senior executive from a leading advertising agency said.