Pepsi ropes in Mamata Banerjee as its brand ambassador

Hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her plans to paint Kolkata blue to celebrate her one year in power, Soft Drink giant Pepsi has shaken the ad world by signing the Chief Minister as its next brand ambassador.

In a press conference held at Kolkata, the India head of marketing at Pepsico Miss Nilima Nilopadhyay (name changed temporarily as a part of the current campaign), explained further details about their strategy. “The colour blue has always been associated with Pepsi. We are glad to observe that Kolkata has finally embraced blue after years of red – which was obviously due to the influence of a certain competitor.”

She went on to explain deeper similarities between the Pepsi brand and the way Mamata Banerjee is ruling the state. “Our tagline – Change the Game – is exactly what Didi is doing as far as governance is concerned. Challenging traditional objectives of development and growth while focussing on a uber cool blue image for the state!” 

With the end of IPL round the corner and thus the risk of cricketers, footballers and Ranbir Kapoor  losing their impact [the latter risk being independent of IPL], this move is being seen by advertising industry professionals as a masterstroke by Pepsi. 

Unconfirmed sources have pointed out that Pepsi may move back to its old tagline with a minor modification while featuring Miss Banerjee – “Yeh Didi maange more” – a suggestion sent to Pepsi by the Finance Ministry because of the repeated requests for larger packages for the state of West Bengal. 

When approached for his comments on this development, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said, “Even the great Rabindra Nath Tagore wrote – “Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high” – did he not mean ‘Sir utha ke jiyo” by that?

Idea 3G targets afterlife market – makes life more difficult for UPA

Idea 3G has caused further commotion in the UPA government with its new ad campaign in which it gives clear indications of targeting the as yet untapped afterlife market. The opposition was quick to react to the ads, demanding an explanation from the government about how the afterlife spectrum was allocated.

This is the latest in a series of innovative business strategies used by Idea, which earlier made an attempt to partner with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to help control the population of India. However, the Ministry politely declined the offer for the partnership saying that it was a bad idea and Idea was thus forced to move on with its next idea.

“This is a huge opportunity waiting to be exploited. Now you can use 3G services even in your afterlife. Not even death can separate us from our customers. ”, said a visibly emotional Idea 3G marketing manager on the condition of anonymity, as he said he got threatening calls from all over the country after he had masterminded the population control ad campaign, though he admitted he still had no clue why he was being targeted.

However, the opposition was quick to launch another attack on the already troubled UPA government.  Arnab Goswami, anchor of the popular discussion show News Hour, added fire to the opposition’s voice.  “The nation wants to hear how the spectrum allocation was made. This seems to be a clear case of favoritism towards one company. Why aren’t other companies targeting this market yet? We only see Abhishek Bachchan promoting this afterlife network, but what about Ranbir Kapoor? The poor chap is playing an old man and still trying to sell DoCoMo to mortals. This is unfair”

When contacted, the Congress spokesperson Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi refused to comment. “I am trying to contact the High Command but my Idea network signal is weak”, he said.