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OCT 29, 2023
NimishAndAkriti
Making an ad with a celebrity can be quite a challenge. Bring multiple celebrities into it and it acquires nightmare status. Unlike a film, an ad's time is limited - little more than a minute. In that period, it has to talk of the product, showcase the celebrity and the relationship between them, and do all of it in a way that the viewer likes it (all ads are intrusions, remember). Pepsi managed that in 1999, with Shah Rukh Khan and the Indian cricket team!
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The ad was made on the eve of the 1999 World Cup. Sachin Tendular and Shah Rukh Khan were at close to the peak of their popularity. Featuring both of them in an ad was a HUGE challenge. And things were not made easier by the fact that Sachin himself was not too comfortable with the idea. Prahlad Kakkar and Genesis convinced him to change his mind.. The result was perhaps the greatest celeb ad ever in Indian advertising. And one of the most hilarious!
The ad spans about a minute, and was based in England (which was hosting the World Cup). And it remains hilarious to watch even today. Shah Rukh is so obsessed with getting a Pepsi that he disguises himself as Sachin Tendulkar, and sneaks past the security guard (who had earlier told him "chal, phoot le!") into the Indian cricket team's dressing room to get a Pepsi. And much hilarity ensues, as he weaves and dodges past players!
Among the players Shah Rukh in his Sachin avatar dodges are Ajay Jadeja and Ajit Agarkar. He meets Rahul Dravid more comfortably, but calls him "Gaurav." He finally gets a Pepsi, only to be told by Azharuddin (the Indian captain) to go out and bat. As a stunned Shah Rukh shuffles out to bat, he meets a grinning Sachin who tells him "I will take it from here." A relieved SRK hands him the bat. Sachin takes the Pepsi, leaving Shah Rukh bewildered and terrified
More than twenty years after it was first aired, this remains a stunning ad. It features not just two stars of legendary status in their fields, but also a number of other celebrities (Jadeja, Agarkar, Dravid and Azharuddin) and all of them play their role to perfection. Shah Rukh is of course, the star with a classic bumbling, panicky act, but none of the others look out the place - Jadeja twinkles, Dravid looks amiably confused and Azhar clinical!
The critical part, however, is that right through the ad, the product is never lost sight of. Shah Rukh undergoes all those hilarious trials and tribulations for a Pepsi, and even at the very end, Sachin prefers to take the Pepsi off him rather than the bat. It is all magnificently executed. The celebrities play themselves, and the product shines because of them - there is space for both, with neither overshadowing the other totally!
Ads like these are rare in India these days. Perhaps because creating them takes too much effort and time. Many ads in India now restrict themselves to simply placing a celeb and the product in the same frame, hoping that some magic will happen ("Bolo Zubaan Whateveri"). It rarely happens. The SRK-Sachin ad proves that it does not HAVE to be this way. Ye dil maange more ads like these ones. See it here:
https://youtu.be/wGsOgjAQuY8?s…
him
Nimish And Akriti (We Write)
Making an ad with a celebrity can be quite a challenge. Bring multiple celebrities into it and it acquires nightmare status. Unlike a film, an ad's time is limited - little more than a minute. In that period, it has to talk of the product, showcase the celebrity and the relationship between them, and do all of it in a way that the viewer likes it (all ads are intrusions, remember). Pepsi managed that in 1999, with Shah Rukh Khan and the Indian cricket team!
The kind of ads they don’t make anymore
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Nostalgia 🙌
