Pepsi rolls out 'The Game' to engage, interact with Youngistaanis

With an aim of pushing the new 'Youngistaan ka WOW' brand positioning to its core target audience, Pepsico India has rolled out ‘The Game’, a series of five gaming-based television films developed specially for the ongoing IPL season.

'The Game' is set in a fantasy world and all the action takes place in a castle owned by the ‘Game Master’ played by Sanjay Dutt. He challenges Pepsi's brand ambassador, Ranbir Kapoor, to get back his Pepsi from his lair.

The five-week episodic game began with a teaser film on March 27 where the lead characters -- Sanjay Dutt, Ranbir Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandes -- were introduced. This was followed by the first of the three films that will give out clues bringing Kapoor closer to his Pepsi; finally concluding with the fifth film that will be played out till the last day of the IPL. Viewers can enter ‘The Game’ at any level and can win prizes and those who answer correctly at all levels, stand a chance to win Rs 50 lakh by succeeding in the final tie-breaker slogan challenge.

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Said Punita Lal, executive director, marketing, PepsiCo India, “Pepsi has always been at the forefront of creating exciting, engaging and innovative experiences which connect with the youth. With the launch of ‘The Game’, Pepsi once again acts as a trendsetter by bringing together gaming to TV advertising for the first time ever. We are confident that ‘The Game’ will not only attract eyeballs owing to its huge entertainment value but also drive participation amongst youngsters thanks to the fantastic concept and thrill it promises to deliver.”

Added Soumitra Karmik, ECD & VP, JWT, “We wanted to launch WOW in the same massive, spectacular way most of the big Pepsi campaigns in the past have been done. Only this time, given the perfect IPL platform with most of our Youngistaani consumers watching, we wanted to create a campaign that would engage and interact. The creative concept is an episodic interactive game set in the realm of fantasy where a niche genre such as gaming comes alive on a mainstream media such as television.”

The film has been directed by Marco Kalantri and produced by Sunil Manchanda of MAD Films.