 | |
 Thums Up bottle | |
| Type | Cola |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | The Coca-Cola Company |
| Origin | India |
| Introduced | 1977; 49 years ago (1977) |
| Related products | Coca-Cola,Pepsi,Campa Cola |
| Website | coca-cola.com/thums-up |
Thums Up is a brand ofcola. It was introduced in 1977 to offset the withdrawal ofThe Coca-Cola Company from India. The brand was later bought by Coca-Cola who re-launched it in order to compete againstPepsi to capture the market.
In 2018, Coca-Cola announced they would launch Thums Up in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.[1] In 2021, the company became a billion-dollar brand in India.[2]
Thums Up was created in 1977, after the American company Coca-Cola withdrew from India due to regulations requiring it to disclose its formula[3] and sell 60% of its equity to an Indian company under a government plan for foreign-owned companies to share stakes with domestic partners.[4][5] The Chauhan brothers owned part of theParle company and already had two other brands of soda,Limca andGold Spot, which were popular in India at the time. Thums Up quickly became the most popular cola brand in India and achieved a near-monopoly among cola products in India during the 1980s, standing above other cola products such asCampa Cola,Double Seven, Dukes andUnited Breweries Group's McDowell's Crush.[6]
Ramesh Chauhan had developed the formula from scratch, experimenting with ingredients such as cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg. The company also wanted the drink to be fizzy, even when it was not ice-cold, so it could be sold by vendors. After much testing and experimentation, the Chauhan brothers and their research team created a cola that was fizzier and spicier thanCoca-Cola. They originally planned to name the drink "Thumbs Up," but removed the "b" to make the name unique.[7]
In 1991, when the Indian governmentopened the market to multinationals,Pepsi was the first to come in. Thums Up and Pepsi subsequently engaged in heavy competition for endorsements. Pepsi advertisements included major Indian movie stars likeJuhi Chawla,[8] while Thums Up increased its spending on cricket sponsorship. Thums Up also introduced a larger 300 ml (10 US fl oz) bottle, branded "MahaCola" (meaning 'great [in size] cola'; the original size was 250 ml (8.5 US fl oz)). This nickname gained popularity in smaller towns where people would ask for "Maha Cola" instead of Thums Up.[9]
In 1993, Coca-Cola re-entered the market, and the three companies competed intensely. Later in the year, Coca-Cola bought the Parle-owned drinks Gold Spot, Limca and Thums Up for $60 million (equivalent to $100 million in 2024). When these were sold to Coca-Cola, Thums Up had amarket share of 85 percent in India.[10]
Despite its strong overall equity, the brand was losing its popularity among the core cola-drinking age group of 12- to 25-year-olds, partly due to a lack of advertising. At first, Coca-Cola cut advertising and production for Thums Up to drive customers to their flagship brand,[11] but they soon realised that Thums Up customers would turn to Pepsi instead of Coca-Cola if Thums Up withdrew from the market. Instead, Coca-Cola decided to use Thums Up as a rival brand to Pepsi. The Coca-Cola Company by this time had about 60.5% share of the Indian soft-drink market but found out that if it took out Thums Up, it would remain with only 28.7% of the market, hence Thums Up was re-launched, targeting 30- to 40-year-olds.
The brand was re-positioned as a "manly" drink, drawing on its strong taste qualities.[12] Thums Up started an advertising campaign directly attacking Pepsi'stelevision commercials, focusing on the strength of the drink hoping that the depiction of an "adult" drink would appeal to young consumers. "Grow up to Thums Up" was a successful campaign. The brand's market share and equity increased.[13]
Thums Up containscarbonated water,sugar, acidity regulator (E338), andcaffeine, as well as natural colour (150d) and added flavours ("natural, nature identical and artificial flavouring substances").[14]
.jpg)
The original Thums Up logo was a redthumbs up hand gesture with a slanted, white, sans-serif typeface. This would later be modified by Coca-Cola with blue strokes and a more modern-looking typeface.
The famous slogan until the early 1980s was "Happy days are here again", coined by copywriterVasant Kumar.[15] The slogan later became "I want My Thunder", and subsequently "Taste the thunder!"
Product placement in films was used in the 1980s with Thums Up appearing in the background of many Hindi films.[11]
Advertising campaigns from Thums Up build on its "strength" and its perception as amacho drink.[16]
In February 2012, South Indian actorMahesh Babu became a spokesperson for Thums Up.[17] In October 2012, Coca-Cola India re-signedSalman Khan as the brand ambassador of Thums Up. The company also tied with Khan's movieDabangg 2 and his charitable organisation as part of the deal.[18][19]
In 2022, the company launched its advertising campaign "Toofan" with Indian cricketerJasprit Bumrah.[20] A similar video ad was created showcasing fast bowlerMohammed Siraj.[21] Bollywood actorShah Rukh Khan became brand ambassador.[22] It also partnered with South Indian actorVijay Deverakonda.[23]
Thums Up was a major sponsor ofcricket matches and had a notable presence atSharjah cricket matches.[24] In the early 1980s, it came out with severalpostcards featuringSunil Gavaskar andImran Khan.[25]
Besides cricket, Parle's southern bottler was a major sponsor of Indianmotorsport in the 1980s.[24] In addition to sponsoring several Indian track drivers in Sholavaram races, they sponsored several regional car and bike rallies. They were also associated for several seasons with theLakshmi MillsSuper Speeds team.
Thums Up announced a worldwide partnership with the2020 Summer Olympics in July 2021 to commemorate the 100th year of India's participation in the Olympic Games. The brand rolled out a special athlete packaging, featuring Indian OlympiansBajrang Punia,Manu Bhaker,Vikas Krishan Yadav,Deepika Kumari, andAtanu Das.[26]
The company announced a worldwide partnership with theTokyo 2020 Paralympics in August 2021.[27] The brand rolled out a special athlete packaging, featuring six athletes includingMariyappan Thangavelu (high jump),Sakina Khatun (powerlifting),Suyash Yadav (swimming),Navdeep Singh (javelin throw),Sumit Antil (javelin throw), andAvani Lekhara (shooting).[28]
