By Ariba Shahid
KARACHI (Reuters) – Coca-Cola is attempting to capitalise on Pakistan hosting its biggest cricket event in nearly 30 years, and steal the spotlight away from the host nation’s official team sponsor Pepsi, by tapping into the country’s love of ‘tape-ball cricket’.
International fixtures were halted in Pakistan after a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus and only began returning in 2018. Companies in Pakistan are now eyeing the Champions Trophy, which started on Wednesday, as one of the most valuable marketing opportunities in decades.
Unable to attach its brand to Pakistan’s national team, who are sponsored by Pepsi, Coca-Cola’s latest campaign uses a limited edition bottle to tap into cricket fever and a distinctly Pakistani invention: tape-ball cricket.
The Urdu advert shows a young man walking into a store asking for a tennis ball and electrical tape, which is usually used to create a fast-paced ball for street cricket.
The clerk hands him a ball and a Coke bottle.
“What’s this?” the customer asks, and the clerk responds with a smile and a nod.
The customer is then seen happily wrapping a red tape, found behind the bottle’s label, around the yellow tennis ball as he walks out of the shop.
Played on streets across Pakistan, tape-ball is considered the entry point into the sport and has helped produce several of the country’s most famous cricketers.
“I love tape ball cricket, so I admit it’s a cool campaign,” said Muhammad Shoaib, a 20-year-old engineering student from Karachi.
Coca-Cola said the campaign was meant to be “a nostalgic, feel-good experience for anyone who has ever played street cricket in Pakistan.”
The bottles will be sold at select stores in Pakistan’s biggest cities, it said. Coca-Cola and Pepsi account for over 80% of the market share for carbonated drinks in Pakistan, an industry report showed.
However, both have been hit by consumer boycotts in Muslim-majority countries since the Gaza war started in October.
“It’s done a pretty good job of wrapping (the ball),” said Maaz Ahmed, 19, after using Coke’s new product. “But I’ll probably add some more tape from my own roll back home.”
Pakistan last staged a major cricket event when it co-hosted the 1996 World Cup with Sri Lanka and India. Pakistan were scheduled to stage the 2011 Cricket World Cup with three other countries but were removed as co-hosts following the 2009 bus attack on the Sri Lankan team.
(Reporting by Ariba Shahid; Writing by Saad Sayeed)
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