Subway India swipes right to a Coke Zero

A drink and a snack go hand in hand, as the unspoken adage goes. But Subway, the sandwich chain, has never really advertised a drink to accompany its subs in India. It should have; the energy that goes into choosing which ingredients make up your sub deserves a carbonated refreshment.

However, a new 30-second advertisement from Coke Zero, featuring Subway, only goes halfway. Yes, it urges you to pair the sugarless carbonated cola with a sub, but there’s a caveat—it’s for Subway’s new Hot & Cheesy Signature subs. These subs come with pre-selected ingredients, and the only choice you have is the type of bread. This new menu offers three vegetarian and four non-vegetarian subs.

Subway piloted such an offering last year with ‘Hotsellers’ and ran an ad campaign with chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand. The difference between it and the Hot & Cheesy Signature comes down to the size of the offering—the latter is 1.5x larger and uses real mozzarella cheese, according to the sandwich chain.

Interestingly, the ad features two young women ordering the sub, but an influencer's social media account prompts them to also order the Coke Zero—a clear indication that this pairing targets late millennials and Gen Z, whose influences are often social media stars rather than actors or athletes. Positioning Coke Zero over regular Coke as the companion for a Subway sandwich feels intentional, given Gen Z’s preference for healthier options over overtly sugary drinks.

Coke Zero, or Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (the revamped version), “tastes like a Coke, but with zero sugar and zero calories,” according to the company’s website. In 2023, the company released its first ad in India , featuring young actor Tiger Shroff savouring the beverage in a remixed version of Lata Mangeshkar's iconic song Hothon Pe Bas.

The Gen Z cohort (people born between 1997 and 2012) is an important target group for marketers. According to a recent report from Snap and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on How Gen Z is Shaping the New India, it is the largest generational cohort in India, comprising 377 million people, and is responsible for 43% of the country’s overall consumption spending, a figure expected to rise to 46% by 2030. More importantly, Gen Z drives $30 to $35 billion of India’s overall spending in the Eating Out and Ordering In category, which totals $70 to $75 billion.

Pairing a beverage with a food item is not a new trick from advertisers. Over the last two decades, several college canteens and dhabas in India have featured red posters suggesting that a Coke is the perfect companion for samosas, fried rice (the red schezwan kind), and even a plate of biryani.

More recently, Coca-Cola-owned Thums Up ran an ad featuring Shah Rukh Khan ordering a Thums Up, dismissing the server’s suggestion of a “soft drink” to wash down the biryani he’d just eaten. The ad also doubled as a promotion for the actor’s return to the big screen in Pathaan after a four-year break.

Around the same time in Canada, Coke, through the WPP-owned ad agency VML, paired an ice-cold Coke with famous dishes in an outdoor campaign called Magic Duos in Toronto. On the other hand, Pepsi this year released a campaign that used the ‘Ok’ in Coke to remind users not to pair their favourite dishes with a drink that only tastes ‘Ok’.

In India, Coke has partnerships with four major multinational fast-food brands. The famous Coke Float is available at McDonald's, while Coca-Cola drinks are served at Burger King, Wendy's, and Subway, among others. PepsiCo, the rival, has partnerships with Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, and Domino's.

Interestingly, Subway in the United States has decided to switch from serving Coke to PepsiCo's drinks starting in 2025. The sandwich chain has signed a 10-year deal with PepsiCo and will serve beverages like Mountain Dew, Gatorade, and Aquafina, according to a CBS News report from March.