The strategy twist for 2001: Coca-Cola India has decided to pitch its acquired brand, Thums Up, against Pepsi, instead of the more usual choice of the flagship brand, Coke. Moreover, for the first time, Coca-Cola India is openly challenging Pepsi on the taste plank: The storyline shows Pepsi as being "too sweet" in a `blind' test by a teenage consumer. According to a Coke spokesperson: "We are strengthening the brand equity of taste, and reviving the pride of usership of Thums Up."

But that's not all. More importantly, in 2001, Coke seems determined to keep rival Pepsi busy fighting Thums Up, while its flagship brand Coke tries to rack up market share.

An aggressive step in comparative advertising, the ad focusses on a teenage boy who is asked by Thums Up endorser Salman Khan to choose between two cola drinks. The boy points out to the sweeter one, grimaces, and silently but clearly mouths "Pepsi", and shrugs that kids are more like to opt for the `other' brand as it is sweeter. In the next take, Salman Khan further cocks a snook at Pepsi advertising by mimicking the Pepsi ad line: "Dil Maange More? Aha!" The audience laughs, and Salman Khan then informs the audience that he is now going on a nationwide tour for similar "tests".

Coke's vice-president, marketing, Shripad Nadkarni, insists that the ad does not demean any product. "It is totally above board, and the ad carries a disclaimer, which makes it clear that the ad was developed on the basis of market research conducted by an independent agency," he says. Mr Nadkarni, however, refused to disclose any more details on the nature of the research, or the name of the agency. According to the company, the research revealed that as a brand, Thums Up stood out for its unique strong taste. The company then decided to leverage this finding in a "challenge" format. The company claims that it actually carried out blind testing of cola brands, wherein Pepsi was found to be sweeter and preferred by smaller kids, while Thums Up was liked by teens, who aspire to be young adults and do not want to be looked upon as kids. Strategically, Coke claims that there's no shift in Thums Up's positioning and that it is still targeted at young adults.

However, the brand is being expanded to include young teens in its target audience. "We have refined the role of the brand," Mr Nadkarni admits. While it remains to be seen if young adults prefer to pour out a Thums Up, Pepsi will certainly have to `Taste the Thunder' this summer.