The new television commercial of Pepsi has met with criticism, with many accusing the soft drink giant of mocking the ongoing student protest movements. The commercial (with the tagline ‘ Pepsi thi, pi gaya ’ or ‘It was Pepsi, I drank it’) shows a protesting student guzzling a bottle of Pepsi while the student leader emphatically tells the media that they have started a fast unto death against the college authorities. Students say it bears an uncanny resemblance to FTII students who were on a hunger strike to protest against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute director. Delhi students share their views on the commercial.
Elora Chakraborty, M.A, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityI find the new advertisement extremely disturbing as it seems to take a dig at not only the FTII protest which has been going on for more than 100 days, but also the ongoing protest regarding the MHRD’s decision to scrap the non-NET fellowship. This advertisement is a sheer mockery of students’ fights for their basic rights. India does not have a student-friendly environment and this has been proved by the number of protests that are taking place. The advertisement shows poor taste and bad marketing strategy for selling the cold drink.
Gautam Bisht, M.Phil, Ambedkar UniversityI found the advertisement funny. Although many people were offended by it, I found it intelligent and the FTII campaign did not come to my mind until people started associating the advertisement to it. Often, mass movements do not take into account the difference of opinions and this is what the commercial highlights. The fact that Pepsi chose to make their commercial on student movements only shows how the issue had become so elevated that even the commercial market had to take notice and make an advertisement based on it.
Aditi Das, M.Phil, Delhi UniversityIt is an extremely juvenile attempt at making a mockery of student protests in India, be it the FTII or the UGC. A brand known for its creative advertisement campaigns is expected to do better than “ Pepsi thi, pi gaya ”. The commercial is a mere reflection of the consumerist mindset of the people on top of the economic hierarchy, not to mention its severe lack of creativity and imagination.
The student community in India, which seriously engages with the troubling socio-political situation of the country, is neither naive nor will they let these corporate forces win.
Praveen Verma, PhD, Delhi UniversityThe advertisement is highly insensitive to student politics, their issues and struggles. Student politics are getting reshaped in the time of capitalist reforms in education, which is forcing the government to cut the education budget. Multinational corporations such as Pepsi are big players in this game of privatisation of education which eventually takes away education from the crores of the underprivileged to the rich few.
