I wrote a bit about this in my previous post.
Of all his endorsement duties, the one with Pepsico has alwiz interested me the most. I'm not one who will introduce a particular brand of soft drink into my diet just coz my idol endorses it (I don't really like Pepsi or Coke, to be honest). Actually what first caught my attention was the Hrithik vs. Shah Rukh ad war in 2000.
Everyone who's a fan of SRK or Hrithik knew what had transpired in the media after the huge flop of PBDHH and the gargantuanly successful KNPH. It was a huge mess and the violently nasty headlines hurt SRK so much he still remembers them to this day (yes, and the bylines too.. Mr./Ms. Irresponsible Reporter). Pepsico and Coke has a tradition of spoofing each other's brand ambassadors in their ads and they exploited this much to the delight of the band of tabloids who lapped the fare up without a pause. That ad was also what pulled me out of the SRK fandom back then after having immersed myself in it for ~3 years (I got hooked on him after KKHH). The noise was too awful and I couldn't take it. At the time internet was not yet popular in the average Malaysian homes and all the info was fed to me straight from the gossip-mongers.
After more than a decade old association, they've decided to let SRK go. Or as he said, "sold me out". Brands come and go, but they'll never get an SRK again. I suspected they've made an error of judgement.. at least when I looked at the short term profit. People have very short memories when it comes to products, which is why the same advertisements have to pop up and annoy the hell out of you 10 times during one movie (at least here in Malaysia they do that). For one person who says "I won't drink Pepsi anymore coz you kicked out Shah Rukh Khan!" (I actually read this comment somewhere), there'll be 10,000 others who'd have forgotten by next Saturday that SRK is no longer its brand ambassador.
Now that Kolkatta Knight Riders has tied the knot with Coca Cola right in the middle of Pepsico's "golden-handshake" dream, my suspicion has been confirmed. What with their blunder regarding the '5-year, 50 crore' on-ground deal vs. Coke '1-year, 10 crore' on-air deal last time, I think Pepsico is in need of some serious re-structuring if they want to grab their 'second highest selling soft drink in India' slot again. Coke is very clear on their intention tho.. “We have a long-standing relationship with Aamir Khan, our brand ambassador. Our proposal has no connection with SRK, we are limiting ourselves to KKR”. O-ke, whatever. But the fact that they're sponsoring SRK's team when there's a host of others flailing to get noticed by the big sponsors at this unstable time of recession, or 'correction' as Shah Rukh would have it, is already a win where SRK is concerned. It pays to have your fingers in several pots, huh.
Interestingly.. KKR's man, Ishant Sharma, is one of Pepsico's brand ambassadors. Will there be a blanket ban on individual products during IPL then? That will make Pepsico the loser all around in this high stake game.. a second loss after the first season of IPL on-ground/on-air debacle (Pepsico took it up with IPL but ended up terminating the deal when they couldn't get the broadcaster to cancel its deal with Coke).
Of course, with any business, there's no perfect decision. You win, you lose.. you fall flat on your face and you get up again. Pepsico is still hopeful on that golden handshake thing (altho I actually have this urge to kick their asses and tell them to get lost after reading their 'he's too old for our campaign' statement, huh). And what I like about Shah Rukh is, he may be is an emotional man but when it comes to profitable decisions (I'm not just talking in terms of money here), he always makes courageous choices.
To those who are so gleeful that Aamir's contract has been renewed with a price hike while SRK's no longer in the Pepsico bandwagon, lemme remind you that an actor's bankability is only as good as his last film and Aamir's last film was a really huge success. Meaning to say, had Ghajini not happened, Aamir's future with the Coke may not be this rosy (he's been their brand ambassador for only two years and filmed only 1 measly ad for them).
I'm really uncomfortable with the public looking at the renewal of contracts sentimentally. Business is business after all. Due to personal reasons I don't support certain brands, Coke and Pepsi are some of them, so I don't care who their brand ambassadors are. But in the world of big bucks, of which a lot of us have no clue what it looks like from the inside, no matter how much heart you put into the work.. what matters at the end of the day is profit. To Pepsico, SRK does not fit into their new campaign and therefore he was dropped despite his strong loyalty to the brand. If Aamir no longer fits into Coca Cola's future campaign, he too will be dropped. It's as simple as that.
Anyone who doubts this need only to remember Beckham's fate late last year with Pepsico. Shah Rukh should have pulled the same move when that Youngistaan campaign started. I think it's his loyalty to the brand that stopped him from announcing that he's "..leaving Pepsico coz I want to focus on other future projects". I wish he'd have done that instead of letting himself be patronized in that last Pepsi ad he did with the new golden jodi. He dragged it out too long on the basis of what.. blind faith on the goodwill of a giant international company?.. which later allowed Pepsico to act cocky and tell the media that they're "dropping SRK coz he's too old for our new campaign". See, this is the kind of thing that sometimes makes me want to drop out of my study and apply for a job as his image consultant. Does the post even exist in the first place?? XD
If I dun care about the brands, why this interest then? I like advertisements.. there, the secret is out. I would have enjoyed the ads plastered on Malaysian TV had they been more fun, interesting and errrr..fun, instead of the dull show they are now. Anyway, I'm really interested on the culmination of this golden handshake thing. What form will it take? I guess with SRK still recuperating from the surgery, business deals will be conducted a bit more sluggishly than usual.. especially with a company that has already terminated his services once.
References (not in order of appearance coz I'm lazy):
- 'It's in bad taste'
- Shah Rukh hits jackpot, gets Coke to sponsor KKR
- Shahrukh defends Pepsi and puts question on mother's milk
- Baadshah Shah Rukh will no more rule Pepsi’s ‘Youngistaan’
- PepsiCo drops Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador
- Beckham and Pepsi no longer together
- Shah Rukh Khan out of Pepsi’s ‘Youngistaan'
- Two years on, Coke pays Aamir Rs 10 crore
- PepsiCo drops Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador
- PepsiCo drops Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassador
- Beckham's Pepsi Deal Comes To An End
- For KKR, Shahrukh Rescinds His Association with Pepsi
- Coca-Cola clinches KKR sponsorship deal as PepsiCo loses fizz
- Coke, Pepsi thirst for SRK’s Riders
- Curtain-raiser for IPL: it’s Coke vs Pepsi
No comments:
Post a Comment