Puja is over but not the celebrations. Friday evening saw the culmination of Coke-e Food-e Pujor Mood-e, in association with Anandabazar Patrika and The Telegraph, with Tolly stars Abir Chatterjee and Subhashree joining six winners of the Coca-Cola Selfie Contest for dinner at Dum Pukht, ITC Sonar. The contest, held from Sashthi to Ashtami, needed pandal-hoppers to click a selfie at the Coke Adda zones at four pujas — Deshapriya Park, Ballygunge Cultural Association, Dum Dum Park Bharat Chakra and Jodhpur Park Saradiya Utsab Committee — and upload it on Coca-Cola’s Facebook page. The winners made it to this starry dinner.

CAN IT WITH COKE: Subhashree and Abir Chatterjee are Thums Up fans when in Calcutta, but prefer Coke when abroad. At ITC Sonar, the duo grabbed a Coke can each before meeting the winners of the Coke-e Food-e Pujor Mood-e selfie contest. “When I was not a celebrity, adda was impromptu. Now we need to plan it, arrange it, like this Coke adda,” said Abir.

 

 

FAN FRAMES: Dipayan Mandal (top) couldn’t resist the temptation of posing with his “favourite actress” Subhashree. Seeing him, friend Kunal Mandal, another winner of the selfie contest, followed suit with his “Tolly screen idol” Abir. “These pictures will go straight to Facebook and I am sure many of our friends will be jealous tonight,” smiled Kunal, a Bank of Baroda employee. Given a chance, who would the two stars have clicked a selfie with? For Subhashree, the long list had Ranbir Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Tom Hanks and Angelina Jolie. Abir had just one name — the Big B. “I don’t know how to click a selfie but if I have to name one person, it’s going to be Amitabh Bachchan. In fact, I once spent half-an-hour in a room with him during a film festival but somehow it didn’t occur to me to take my phone out and click a selfie. Fortunately, someone else clicked a picture of us,” said the latest screen Feluda.

 

 

 

 

KEBAB-E-COKE: The special dinner at Dum Pukht had an Awadhi menu. Dum Pukht Kakori Kebab, Jhinga (prawn) Dum Nisha, Murg Rizala, Dudhiya (paneer) Kebab, Dum Pukht Biryani... yummmm.

 

 

SELFIE AND THE STARS: Subhashree and Abir with Coca-Cola Selfie Contest winners (L-R) Shaibal Hira, Dipayan Mandal, Kunal Mandal, Sumaiya Jawaid, Avishek Mazumder and Annapurna Banerjee. “This year Durga Puja had one day less. So this extension of the Puja feel at the Coke-e Food-e Pujor Mood-e dinner is great! I mainly chill out at home with family during Puja. We are a huge joint family with 24 cousins. So it’s a big, big adda at home,” said Subhashree. Abir had been to all the four pandals in the city with Coke Adda zones. For him, “adda is a common factor for every Bangali” and thus he too has his prized adda sessions “bondhuder barite (at friends’ places)”.

Debabrata Mukherjee, vice president, marketing and commercial at Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia, was one of the main men behind Coke-e Food-e Pujor Mood-e, in association with Anandabazar Patrika and The Telegraph. t2 caught up with the 44-year-old for a chat on Coke and Calcutta.

How would you rate the Coke-e Food-e Pujor Mood-e campaign? What’s the feedback like?

The way we envisaged the campaign and the way we executed it on the ground was almost congruous. What does Coke-e Food-e Pujor Mood-e allow us? It’s bandwidth. If we just say Durga Puja and Coke, then I am limiting myself to only one event. But Coke and food can pair up on different levels. It’s a campaignable idea versus one vertical. This allows me to take this into a wider zone versus just one event. I am very happy with the way the concept came to the market. This is a lifetime idea versus a seasonal idea. Conversations, celebrities, companionship and Coke. It’s a superhit combo and did well because of the team effort. Coke and ABP have a very good partnership.

Any other city you plan to take this campaign to?

Bengal has been our focus market for a while. We wanted to do something built on a local insight. Food, friends, family, festival came together. The interesting thing is we took it across the country — in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore and other parts of the country, wherever Durga Puja was being celebrated. We can stretch it now. I must thank ABP for being the partner. The idea was a joint idea. It’s called serendipity.

Are you a Calcutta boy?

Yes, I grew up in the city. I was born in the city and lived here for 24 years. I went to Calcutta Boys and then Presidency College where I studied economics. I grew up in Sinthee More. We had a family hosiery business and I grew up in a factory. We moved to south Calcutta later. So I have lived in both north and south Calcutta and I am not going to tell you which part is better!

How was the adda culture in your college days?

In college, Pramod-da’s canteen was where most of the adda happened. And a bit of the badminton court beside the canteen. It was the early Nineties. That’s when we started watching global sports on TV for the first time. So watching matches, debating over them and the canteen food were what adda meant for me back then.

Any favourite adda zones in the city now?

Now, I come back to the city occasionally. I am a member of Dalhousie Institute and Calcutta Club. My parents are not getting any younger. For me to spend time with them is very important. I have a lot of friends with whom I catch up at the South City Mall. I am also an East Bengal fan and still try to catch a match whenever I am in the city.

What were your Puja adda destinations?

During my college days, I used to live in Beltala. So Maddox Square and Ballygunge Cultural were the obvious choices. There was another puja near my mamabari at Maniktala, where I used to hang out.... Maddox Square is where we used to hang out the most.

What changes in the adda culture from your college days did you factor in while planning Coke-e Food-e Pujor Mood-e?

There was hardly any technology when I was in college, forget Wi-fi. I call myself a digital migrant. [When we pointed to his Samsung Galaxy S5, he smiled: “Oh, I just learn quickly!”] This generation is a digital native. They have grown up in a digital world.... Food has not changed much. Shei biryani, shei roll. What has changed is technology. And accessibility to celebrities. In our times, we couldn’t think of having a candid chat with a celebrity. Today’s celebs are approachable. Our campaign builds on the ability to have a meaningful and friendly conversation with celebs. That is a big change.

What prompted the selfie contest?

Selfie has become a new statement. We have recently launched Coke Zero in India. At one of the launch programmes, Farhan (Akhtar) flipped his phone around and said, “Let’s take a selfie. It’s a great moment.” That made me think that selfies make regular moments special and immortal. A selfie contest also gives you the bragging rights that you are with a celeb.

Any special Calcutta plans?

Given the popularity and success of the Coke-e Food-e campaign, it will be a shame if this was the last of it that we saw. This is an idea, which must be taken forward. We will try to keep this alive on multiple platforms.

In Calcutta, which among the many Coca-Cola products sells the most?

Thums Up and Sprite are clearly the most-loved brands in Calcutta. Thums Up has a huge Calcutta heritage. I grew up drinking Thums Up. Thums Up was ubiquitous in the growing-up years of most Bengalis. I think it has a nice strong taste, which people in Calcutta like. And for the last six or seven years, Calcutta has taken a liking for Sprite because I think there is an affinity for the lime flavour. In Calcutta, if we have a roll, we put a bit of lime juice in it. In jhaal muri, we put lime. So there is a little bit of lime in all of our lives. Hence Sprite, which is a strong lime proposition, continues to find favour with the people of Calcutta. Thums Up’s strong taste and rich heritage and the lime credentials of a brand like Sprite resonate with the people of Calcutta. Coke is trying a little harder because it came a little later.

Who among the many Coca-Cola celebs is your favourite?

The current celebrities are all brilliant. But I have three favourites. My initial days in marketing was when Aamir Khan was part of the Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola campaign. I learnt a lot from Aamir. He taught me nuggets of marketing. Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar amplify the brand value of Thums Up. And Rani Mukerji for Fanta is another favourite

Debabrata Mukherjee of Coca-Cola flanked by Subhashree and Abir

You’ve launched Coke Zero....

The sweetener in both Diet Coke and Coke Zero is the same. The flavouring is different. The taste of Coke Zero is far closer to Coca-Cola, the mother brand. Coke and Coke Zero are the two sides of the same coin. Coke Zero is close to Coke, a male personality. Diet Coke is female. India is the 149th country to have Coke Zero.

 

 

Which celebs will be the face of Coke Zero in India?

Farhan Akhtar has been the face for the launch of Coke Zero. As of now, Farhan is the choice.

Text: Sibendu Das and Amarabati Sen
Pictures: Pabitra Das