Cokenawazi to Cokesutra?

The new Coca-Cola ad for India features ab-flaunting eye candy Ranbir Kapoor.

Coca-Cola's latest spot for 2020 Summers reminds one of mango drink Slice's 'Aamsutra' campaigns. Slice's overly sensualised visuals of Bollywood star Katrina Kaif biting into a slice of mango or even sipping of a pet bottle for almost a decade have been pinned in the history of Indian advertising. Only in the case of Coke, it's a male protagonist. The new ad features a sweaty Ranbir Kapoor flaunting his abdominals and sexily sipping off a glass bottle. However, this male eye candy version is only one half of the brand's marketing trick.

Unlike Slice, Coca-Cola plays its cards in the 'warm' friend/family space, too. Roll back to the festive Diwali season of 2019. The ad film then put the same protagonist in a family situation alongside fellow Bollywood face Paresh Rawal. Wearing traditional clothes, Ranbir was sitting across a dining table and sipping Coke. Only this time he wasn't sipping it off a glass bottle, but a glass. There have been complaints about the connection with brand faces. It's like an iPhone user endorsing a Vivo smartphone. How does Coke pull off both of its positioning, and that too with the same brand face?

Well, Slice too isn't banking on sensuality alone this summer. Read more here.