PepsiCo has rolled out a new television commercial for its flagship, Pepsi. The new TVC revolves around the concept of Youngistaan, which was introduced two years ago, to bond with the youth.
The shaadi commercial celebrates the spirit of friendship of the youth. The 45-second TVC shows how Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor helps a friend who has been coaxed into an arranged marriage against her will. It stresses on how friends have become an important part of one another’s lives, and are always there to help. “The new TVC takes forward the ‘Youngistaan ka wow’ campaign. We wanted to bring it alive because this generation can take on any convention; they have their own ways of doing things, and that’s what we wanted to highlight,” says PepsiCo Executive Vice-president (cola) Sandeep Singh Arora. “The new commercial celebrates the spirit of friendship between Youngistaanis. Youngistaanis depend on and stand by one another no matter what may come. They use quick, witty and smart ideas to bail each other out of tricky situations. The TVC celebrates this friendship.”
The storyboard is that a young girl is being coaxed into an arranged marriage and how her friends come to her rescue. The film opens with the background of an Indian family, where the daughter protests to her father that she doesn’t want to meet her suitor. But her father denies her request. In the next shot, the girl’s suitor asks her for a straw to guzzle Pepsi. Meanwhile, Kapoor makes an entry, and the film takes a twist when Kapoor walks down towards the man, and complains about ditching him in an affair. The camera now shows that both the families are shocked. Now, Kapoor’s another friend comes from the door with the same complain for the man. The last shot: The girl, Kapoor and the third friend are seen enjoying the other delicacies along with Pepsi. When the girl shows her gratitude to her friends, Kapoor promptly says they had come to guzzle the cola drink. The TVC ends with the voiceover: “Youngistaan ka wow”.
The film is directed by Ayan Mukherjee (his first ad film) who also directed the Bollywood film, Wake Up Sid. “The ad was shot over two days at Poonawala Bungalow in Madh Island in Juhu. The campaign will span across television, radio and will have an intensive digital presence,” says Arora.
To rival it, Coca-Cola has launched its ‘Come home on Dipawali’ campaign which went on air in the first week of October and will run till Diwali. This also focuses on the emotions of the youth, and their desire to remain close to their roots. “The campaign promotes the 400-year-old ancient art form Warli which is also about togetherness and simplicity, symbolising our connection with our roots. This campaign ties all this together. To express the theme of home coming, the art has been used by creating animated characters to add life to it,” says a Coca-Cola spokesperson.
