New Delhi, March 11: Beverages major PepsiCo, which
has recently kicked off its new advertising campaign for the
ensuing summer, has dumped Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra as its brand ambassador.
According to industry sources, instead of renewing the
contract with the former Miss World, which expired a few months
back, PepsiCo has decided not to renew it.
Chopra, who was signed in 2005 for two years, has been
replaced by model-turned actor Deepika Padukone. Priyanka had
featured in a television commercial with Kareena Kapoor, which
was directed by Farah Khan.
When contacted Pepsi officials refused to comment on the
matter. However, PepsiCo India, Executive Vice-President, Marketing (Cola), Sandeep Singh
Arora had said, "From time to time we review the list of stars
and depending on situation and who we think is right, we pick
and choose."
As a part of the strategy to position Pepsi as a youth
brand, the company had recently kicked off its new campaign
for 2008, 'Yeh hai youngistaan meri jaan' featuring Deepika
Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor.
The new commercial is to be followed by ads across radio,
outdoor, web and wireless, besides a series of events during
the year, which could even include India's cricketing young
guns led by M S Dhoni.
Beyond Bollywood, Pepsi's has been intensifying focus on
young cricketers by roping in youngsters Ishant Sharma and
Rohit Sharma and dropping ex-Indian captains Sourav Ganguly
and Rahul Dravid as ambassadors.
Bureau Report
