Brand Marketing
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Oey Bubbly: When Pepsi stole the thunder in India’s Cola Wars
When Coca‑Cola’s “Thanda Matlab Coca‑Cola” campaign debuted, it rang alarm bells for JWT and Pepsi—prompting the agency, under the direction of creative leader Anuja Chauhan, to respond swiftly with the energetic “Oey Bubbly” campaign. Storyboard18 connected with Chauhan, who recounted its genesis and further shared vivid anecdotes.
JWT's Anuja Chauhan further recalled that during those days, mobile phones were just becoming popular and ringtones were a big deal. The campaign was so successful that people started setting ‘Oey Bubbly’ as their ringtone. The jingle would even play while the call was in the waiting queue. (Snippets from the campaign)
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is seen enjoying his Pepsi—and wherever he goes, inanimate objects seem to long for it, breaking into the jingle: “Oey Bubbly, Oey Oey Bubbly, be my lover Bubbly.”
From a guitar and stadium floodlight to a sandwich, each object vies for the drink, pleading to be Pepsi’s “man.” The 60‑second commercial premiered in 2005 under the tagline “Yeh Pyaas Hai Badi”, portraying Pepsi as irresistibly thirst‑quenching—even for everyday objects.
The campaign won widespread acclaim for its bold creativity and catchy jingle.
Genesis
Anuja Chauhan, former executive creative director and vice president at JWT (now VML), recollected in a conversation with Storyboard18 that, in those days, advertisements were heavily focused on the drinker and their lifestyle. Around that time, Coca-Cola made a bold move by launching the ‘Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola’ campaign, aimed at cementing a strong association between the brand and the Hindi word thanda (meaning “cool”). The rival brand was positioning itself as the category leader through this campaign.
According to Chauhan, this rang “alarm bells” for both the agency and the brand, prompting them to shift their advertising strategy to focus on the product itself and to celebrate it. Coincidentally, an international brief from Pepsi—titled ‘Joy of Cola’—had arrived in India, and Chauhan was tasked with localizing it.
To Chauhan, the ‘Joy of Cola’ campaign—which had worked well internationally—highlighted Pepsi's fizziness and lightness. This eventually evolved into ‘Oey Bubbly’, a campaign that asserted everything “bubbly” belonged to Pepsi.
Chauhan explained that among the three major soft drinks—Coca-Cola, Thums Up, and Pepsi—the latter was often perceived as the least “bubbly,” due to its relatively sweeter taste. “Hence, the perception was that it isn't as bubbly, when actually it is,” she noted. Ad film director Prasoon Pandey, who directed the 60-second spot, told Storyboard18, “Shooting with SRK is never a challenge, and there were only a few shots with him. The rest was all animation.”
The campaign’s music track was composed by the renowned trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa). The ad was filmed at Mukesh Mills in Colaba, Maharashtra. Vibha Paul Rishi led the marketing efforts for Pepsi India at the time.
Commenting on the animated characters that sang the catchy jingle ‘Oey Bubbly’, Chauhan revealed that the voices of well-known celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, and Saif Ali Khan were used. However, Shah Rukh Khan—Pepsi’s brand ambassador for over a decade until 2009—headlined the campaign, as he was the most instantly recognizable face.
Upon its release in 2005, the ‘Oey Bubbly’ ad campaign became a “crazy hit” among the masses. Chauhan called it a perfect example of Hinglish (Hindi + English), born out of a strong product insight.
“It was local, and it was street lingo. When you love somebody, you give them a nickname, isn’t it? And Bubbly was the nickname,” she said.
She also shared that the ad almost didn’t get released, as the animation quality wasn’t considered great by the team—including Shah Rukh himself—who thought it looked “tacky.”
That’s when Rajeev Bakshi, former Chairman of PepsiCo India (and one of the creative minds behind the iconic Cadbury ‘dancing girl’ ad along with Ogilvy’s Piyush Pandey), stepped in and reassured everyone, calling the ad “fabulous.”
Chauhan further recalled that during those days, mobile phones were just becoming popular and ringtones were a big deal. The campaign was so successful that people started setting ‘Oey Bubbly’ as their ringtone. The jingle would even play while the call was in the waiting queue.
However, according to Chauhan, this usage wasn’t included in the original contract with the music composers, and they demanded compensation. When Noorani called the creative team, his call was put on hold—and to his surprise, the ringtone that played was none other than ‘Oey Bubbly’. This reportedly irritated the composer.
Chauhan, who found the incident amusing, noted that eventually, everyone was paid fairly and the matter was resolved. She also fondly remembered an anecdote from that time.
Just five days after the campaign’s release, Chauhan went on a family vacation to Manali. While they were driving up to Rohtang Pass, they stopped midway. A local boy, looking at Chauhan, suddenly started humming the jingle: “Oey Bubbly, Oey Oey Bubbly…” Chauhan burst into laughter. “I was so happy because it just meant that the ad was a hit,” she said.
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