BRAND BUZZ

Why Not Meri Jaan campaign lifts Pepsi brand image

Back in the 90s Pepsi was synonymous with a cold drink. Those were the days when it was a top-of-the-mind beverage, thanks to aggressive marketing and advertising. In the mid-90s Pepsi associated itself with the stardom of cricketers like Saqlain Mushtaq, Waseem Akram, Waqar Yunus, Saeed Anwar, and others. Later in that decade Pepsi’s marketing strategy also encompassed pop culture. It successfully bunched together industry giants like Junaid Jamshed, Haroon, and Strings. But as the pop culture withered and cricket flew away from the country Pepsi’s brand strategy was headless. Why Not Meri Jaan has so much potential that it could reclaim the market space it lost to Coca-Cola and other smaller brands.

Why Not Meri Jaan campaign has three 1-minute snippets, Deewarein Giraana, Apne Dum Pe, and Tameez Se Jawaab. Deewarein Giraana featuring Syra Yousuf is the strongest of them all. The idea of breaking boundaries can be seen on many levels. It’s not just a figure of speech, it’s an ideal humanity should seek to live in peaceful harmony. The world has become a global village. There isn’t much room for walls erected with malice, prejudice, and mistrust. There is also a wall of ignorance that is at the root of all problems. 

Pepsi Why Not Meri Jaan.

On a much deeper level, it’s all about breaking the barriers of thought. As long as thought is not given free rein nothing worthwhile can be achieved. Unfortunately, the country we live in has so many social, cultural, and religious taboos that we have become enslaved to what we have already been told. We have failed to produce questioning minds. The most basic questions of philosophy and science are answered in our childhood by our parents even before we could ask those questions. Who am I? Who made this world? Where does life come from? Etc.

The concept of Deewarein Giraana is also significant in the context of India and Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan need to break the ice and solve all their outstanding issues. The walls of hatred and animosity between the two countries must be demolished. In fact, all conflicts in the world should be abolished. Every sane human being would agree to this line of thinking and would surely say Why Not Meri Jaan.

Apne Dum Pe is also a strong idea that aims at breaking social taboos. If you belong to a rich family, you are not supposed to start your career from scratch. You either become a managing director of one of your family businesses or start your own company to begin with. There is hardly any precedence of rich graduates pursuing their professions from the ground up. Why Not Meri Jaan first appeared on Pepsi bottles and brandings. The idea did not make much sense then. Now the thematic campaign has come out with a bang. Pepsi needs to continue the momentum of this meaningful campaign. The competition will surely be knocked off its feet. Coke will have to come out with a much bigger idea if it wants to be in the lead.