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Cola star war gets fizzier

BS Bureau

It's a clash of the titans. Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai for Coca Cola versus Amitabh Bachchan for Pepsi.

In a casting coup, Coca Cola India has signed up current Bollywood heartthrobs Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai for its summer campaign for brand Coke, scheduled to be released on April 29. In the rival camp, PepsiCo has geared up for the battle and cast superstar Amitabh Bachchan in its latest Pepsi commercial to be released by May-end.

Sources say that Pepsi may launch a series of ads featuring the Big B and its other brand ambassadors including Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly. It may be recalled that Amitabh Bachchan has been the brand ambassador for PepsiCo's Mirinda Lemon.

The 90-second Coke commercial by Leo Burnett has been directed by Rakesh Roshan and shot at the Film City studio in Bombay. Though Coke officials are tightlipped about the investment in the new campaign, it is reliably learnt that Rakesh Roshan charged a fee of Rs 20 million. Besides, Coke had signed on Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai for Rs 75 million and Rs 30 million respectively as brand ambassadors earlier.

The new Coke commercial has a Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ambience, complete with vibrant colours, foot-tapping music, confetti and a college campus friendship. It features Aishwarya Rai (as Tina) and Hrithik Roshan (as Rohit) as best friends in college but pitted against each other in a students' election. "The ad is a continuation of Coke's emphasis on its theme of youth and friendship," says Shripad Nadkarni, vice president, marketing at Coca Cola.

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