MUMBAI : Sharman Joshi has signed a two year endorsement deal with Pepsi Co’s cola brand 7 Up.
This is the first time 7 Up will have a celebrity endorser. The brand earlier had Mallika Sherawat for one campaign. Prior to this, 7 Up has always prominently featured its mascot, Fido Dido as the cool dude in all its TVCs.
The new 7 Up TVC starring Joshi has been directed by Rajkumar Hirani. The new on-air campaign will be around the theme – Gussa Hatao, Chill Machao. The new campaign, which includes two TVCs is expected to go on-air by the end of March.
PepsiCo India Beverages category marketing director (Flavoured Carbonated Drinks) Alpana Titus said, "Sharman, with his calm, unruffled and extremely affable personality is a perfect match to highlight the brand’s positioning of a cool, refreshing drink. With Raju Hirani creating his magic with the ad films, we are confident that our consumers will not only enjoy the campaign but also identify with the theme of ‘Gussa Hatao, Chill Machao’. We look forward to a great summer season; kick starting with this exciting campaign."
Taking cue from real life moments of sudden provocation, the thematic campaign highlights simple issues of anger management. People often get into heated arguments, squabbles and fights that always seem mindless and silly in retrospect. The TVCs revolve around these instances and Sharman as the new 7UP guy proves to the enraged characters that their anger is misplaced and it is best to douse it with a chilled bottle of 7UP, through a series of witty and offbeat questions!
“I have always enjoyed drinking 7UP; hence I believe that this endorsement was meant to be. I am glad to be a part of this interesting and exciting campaign, which delivers a message I personally believe in as anger leads to nothing but regret. Also, I have to confess that getting an opportunity to work with Raju Sir again was the icing on the cake,” said Joshi.
Hirani added, “I am very selective about the TVCs I direct, but the scripts that I received for 7UP were very interesting. I saw the scope of adding value to the message, since this campaign is not just about giving gyaan. The thought behind the characters’ self realization of stupidity while getting angry is superb.”
The first TVC revolves around a man who has been splashed with mud by a speeding truck and gives the truck a chase on his two-wheeler, hell-bent on teaching the driver a lesson. The second film is about a fight that breaks out between two fans of rival soccer teams while they are watching a match. A fight made even more ridiculous by the fact that neither of them has any connection whatsoever with the countries playing! In both TVCs, Sharman appears as the cool voice of reason, diffusing their anger with 7UP.
The campaign has been conceptualized by BBDO India.
