Cola row in India

The Pepsi commercial has aroused controversy

By Sanjeev Srivastava in Bombay

A battle is hotting up in India between the two international Cola giants, Coke and Pepsi, to corner a bigger share of the nearly $900m market.

The involvement of two of the biggest Bollywood stars in the latest row has provided an added edge.

It was sparked off by a recently released Pepsi commercial which, according to some, makes fun of the new Coke model and Bollywood's latest sensation, Hrithik Roshan.

The Pepsi ad features India's top movie star, Shahrukh Khan, who beats a rival to win the affections of a girl in the commercial.

Battling to corner a $900m market

The man who loses out to Khan bears a close resemblance to Hrithik Roshan, whose debut film Kaho Na Pyar Hai (Say that you love me) has been the biggest blockbuster this year.

Fans and family of the new star have not taken kindly to the commercial as they feel the issue is not confined merely to the Coke-Pepsi rivalry.

Star wars

According to some, the commercial also makes a none too oblique reference to the Shahrukh-Hrithik contest for the number one spot in Bollywood.

It is no secret that Pepsi was keen to sign on Hrithik Roshan before they lost out to Coke.

Prahlad Kakkar: "A clean, fun ad"

Hrithik's father, film producer Rakesh Roshan, demanded that Pepsi scrap the ad and apologise.

Rahul Dhawan, spokesperson for Coke India, also described the ad in "poor taste" and said that it was "unfortunate that a newcomer is being so targeted."

He also said that rather than concentrate on individuals, commercials should focus more on brand building.

Prahlad Kakkar, the person who made the Pepsi commercial, told the BBC that the swipe was not intended against Hrithik but against Coke.

He said the Pepsi commercial was nothing more than "a clean fun ad with a strong story-line revolving around romance.

"It's time people started enjoyed good-natured humour," he said.

Market share

But the controversy refuses to peter out.

A readers' poll done by a Bombay newspaper earlier this week drew a heavy response, with many readers recording their displeasure with the ad.

This is not the first time that the two Cola giants have sparred in public through their commercials.

Leading cricket players were signed up by Pepsi

The most interesting confrontation was at the time of the 1996 cricket world cup, held in the subcontinent.

After losing the world cup rights to Coke, Pepsi launched an aggressive campaign signing up leading Indian cricketers.

At the root of the row is the nearly 40 billion rupees (approximately $900m) Indian soft drinks market.

The stakes are high and the two Cola giants are slugging it out for every bit of this market share, even if it means bitter tactics at times.

The campaign is likely to get even more aggressive.

Recent market figures suggest that after lagging behind Pepsi for most of the last decade, Coke has grown at a faster pace than Pepsi for the first time in the last quarter of 1999.