Thums Up: Thunder strikes

Thums Up comes up with a high-octane commercial to communicate the promise of 'more thunder' for its first-ever variant in 40 years

At the fag end of last year, Coca-Cola India celebrated the 40th anniversary of Thums Up by announcing the flagship brand’s first-ever variant. Now, the company has floated a high-octane television commercial (TVC) featuring actor Ranveer Singh with the message, “take charge”, to communicate the packaging of the new drink as one that promises “more thunder”.

In the minute-long ad, the actor is shown participating in an international car race. His car skids off while trying to overtake competitors and topples over before being brought to a halt. The racer takes a gulp of the Thums Up Charged and resumes, but as he nears the finish line the car gears give way. He doesn’t lose his presence of mind, and does the seemingly impossible as he completes the race by reversing his car at high speed towards victory.

Asked about the ad communication for the Thums Up variant, a spokesperson of Coca-Cola says the new campaign builds on Thums Up’s unique expression of masculinity and belief that heroism is a choice and an opportunity for all. “The #TakeCharge campaign reinforces Thums Up as the metaphor for uncompromising attitude. This ‘toofani’ brand has always encouraged consumers to challenge themselves and unleash their true potential.”

The campaign was designed to inspire consumers to adopt a never-say-die attitude, “showcasing that for any challenge that demands heroic action, the hero needs to get charged to rise up to that occasion”.

The spokesperson adds that Thums Up Charged presents consumers the option of a super cola that is a combination of the uniquely strong taste of Thums Up with even more thunder. It is in line with Coca-Cola’s commitment to offer more choices and evolve into a company that can provide “beverages for life”. At the time of the launch of its new variant, Thums Up, India’s largest cola brand, had sales of around $800 million (Rs 5,200 crore), and it aimed to increase the figure to $1 billion (Rs 6,500 crore) in two years.

Sainath Saraban, creative head of Leo Burnett — the agency behind the TVC — says every Thums Up ad attempts a larger than life setting that makes for great theatre. “This time we increased the magnitude of our storytelling and took it to another level without losing any of the brand’s core values. So what’s different from earlier communication is exactly the difference between Thums Up and Thums Up Charged. Extra thunder.”

Antony Rajkumar, executive vice-president, strategy, Leo Burnett, says for Thums Up, masculinity is about strength. “What one sees in the ad is a narrative that demonstrates grit, determination and resilience. These qualities and virtues are gender-agnostic because they are human values. And they are consistent with the brand’s belief that heroes are made, not born.”

Shriram Iyer, national creative director, Mullen Lintas, says the new ad is impressive in terms of scale of production and technicalities of shooting a race. Strategically, he feels, there is a bit of an overlap with messages of “never give up” and “take charge” put together. If earlier Thums Up ads were reminiscent of Bollywood ways, this ad is closer to a Hollywood style presentation.

But, he argues, although the ad is filmed well, it could have been better written to avoid corny dialogues. “I didn’t gather from the commercial that it’s about a stronger Thums Up,” Iyer says, adding that strategically it appears more of the same as the cola category has been struggling to create anything iconic for a long time.