Mirinda: Necessary madness

The new campaign of PepsiCo focuses on the thought that drinking Mirinda is an intense experience that leaves one breathless.

With summer finally making its entry, soft drink brands have started their war once again. Keeping up the tradition, PepsiCo has launched a new campaign for its orange soft drink, Mirinda. The campaign, which revolves around the theme 'Pagalpanti Bhi Zaroori Hai', is based on the thought that drinking Mirinda is an intense and unstoppable experience that leaves one breathless.

With the campaign, PepsiCo also promotes two new flavours of Mirinda - Orange Mango and Orange Masala.

Conceptualised by JWT, the television commercial shows a college where the protagonist, cine star Asin (the brand ambassador of Mirinda), greets the rude chief guest who has come to the college for a function. On their way in, they catch several people who are breathless. In the main hall, each of them is given a bottle of Mirinda. The moment they drink the beverage, they too go breathless.

Ruchira Jaitly, executive vice-president, marketing, beverages (flavours), PepsiCo India, says, "We were going to launch two bold flavours - Orange Mango and Orange Masala. To promote the new innovative flavours, we looked for an idea showing a fun-filled experience. Mirinda induces the idea of being carried away while one drinks the beverage. 'Blissfulness induced' is what the new campaign is all about."

Explaining the concept, Swati Bhattacharya, national creative director, JWT, says, "PepsiCo was launching two new bold flavours and the thought was to take the idea of fun to the next level. Therefore, the proposition has been created where Mirinda and the two new flavours are positioned as 'unputdownable' drinks which leave everybody breathless."

The beverage company has also launched an out of home campaign that includes activations across the country, along with a digital campaign.

A bold statement

The television campaign draws mixed reviews. While advertising professionals like the concept, they say that the execution fails to get the message through to the consumers.

Gautam Pandit, partner and senior creative director, R K Swamy BBDO, says, "Breathless is a good sound burr which works well as a clutter breaker and gets noticed to make it memorable. But, when the idea is strong, the use of a celebrity takes the fizz away. The opening line gets lost in the end, wish it was tied well. Also, a little more emphasise would have helped in establishing the three variants. Overall, it's a good 'pagalpanti'."

According to Divyapratap Mehta, vice-president, planning, Grey, the commercial is too layered and takes the focus away from the key message of three exciting flavours. "There are five layers on top of the key message. The three exciting flavours, which you would want to keep drinking and so feel breathless. So many breathless couples make it look like an orgy and, with the politician caught in it, a scandal story. The media-hungry politician is an interesting addition that grabs attention and is also quite topical. Also, the execution should have been pushed to make it look more scandalous. Overall, there is too much happening in too little time," adds Mehta.