Limca: Quenching India's Thrist

The soft drink brand has launched a campaign with a completely desi backdrop, showing how Limca is the preferred drink in unusual and crazy Indian scenarios.

Soft drink brand Limca has launched a campaign with a new pitch, 'Limca Wali Pyaas', across TV and digital media. The ad has been created by Leo Burnett. Limca is a lime-based carbonated drink from the house of Coca-Cola beverage company.

Against a typical middle-class set-up of an arranged marriage, the ad, titled 'Bhaag Bittoo Bhaag', depicts how certain happenings are specific only to India. The ad shows a guy named Bittoo running around town buying snacks to be served to his sister's suitor and his family. The contrasting voice over by Bittoo's mother, as he rushes about, makes the ad comical and engaging. All that exertion and heat builds a thirst i.e. the 'Limca wali Pyaas', that can only be quenched by Limca. The brand's previous ad featuring Kareena Kapoor, released last year, was on similar lines of extreme heat and exhaustion, and carried the same tagline.

RajDeepak Das, chief creative officer, Leo Burnett India, says, "With this campaign, we wanted to maintain Limca as a part of India's traditions and, at the same time, take the communication to another level. The campaign - Bhaag Bittoo Bhaag - is special because it talks about the brand promise of 'quenching thirst' by using a strong local insight we all can relate to, being Indians. The whole narrative is quirky, humorous and insanely Indian. It is a kind of film you would enjoy watching repeatedly; a great way to achieve a higher level of brand recall amongst Indian consumers."

Amit Nandwani, executive creative director, who has worked on the campaign, adds, "This commercial essentially conveys the point while integrating quirks rooted in Indian culture. The plot is not only relatable, but also drives home the point in a light-hearted manner."

However, this ad shows a shift in the central idea of Limca's commercials. While its previous campaigns focussed on refreshment, the latest one highlights thirst.

Critique

Nilanjan Dasgupta, executive creative director, Rediffusion Y&R, believes that the ad marks the brand's shift to a promising zone. "This one is much better than the Kareena Kapoor 'Pyaas Badhao' ads. 'Limca Wali Pyaas' can become a big platform being more relatable to today's India," he observes.

According to Dasgupta, the TG of the brand also seems to have changed, considering the imagery and appeal of this ad. "The previous ads like the 'taazgi' series, looked more premium. This ad is more realistic and will appeal to all," he says.

Meanwhile, Suresh Eriyat, founder and creative director, Eeksaurus, is of the opinion that, while the TVC captures the feel of the setting very naturally, the brand may have overdone its presence. He says, "When such a drastically different route is being used to narrate a story, you do not need to put your branding everywhere." He also adds that although the story is strong, there is a slight disconnect when it comes to convergence to the product.