The second half of September saw tea brand Brooke Bond Red Label and broadcaster Star Sports link up to bring together ifamous Indian and Pakistani cricket rivals Venkatesh Prasad and Aamer Sohail to break down barriers over a friendly cup of tea.
Based on an infamous cricket incident in 1996 Cricket World Cup and leveraging the 2018 Asia Cup, the campaign, running under the title #SwadApnepanKa ((Taste Togetherness) and led by a spearhead TV spot, aims to relive the Prasad-Sohail story with a friendly tea-based twist.
The commercial sees the two players discuss their playing days when their rivalry was intense and well known and a live ad episode aims to enable them to solve their differences
The campaign, developed by agency Mindshare, covers the first meeting between the pair since a famously tense game in the 1996 Cricket World Cup which saw them involved in a spat that has become etched even to this day in every India-Pakistan fan’s memory.
A knock-out game in which the Pakistan opener hit Venkatesh Prasad for four and arrogantly signalled for the bowler to fetch the ball.
Prasad kept his head and then delivered a leg-cutter that took out the batsman off stump.
Then it was Prasad’s turned to signal to his rival the way back to the pavilion.
22 years after THAT defining moment in the history of #INDvPAK, Venkatesh Prasad and Aamer Sohail take a trip down memory lane over a cup of Brooke Bond @RedLabelChai and relive it all! Watch below and stay tuned to Star Sports! #SwadApnepanKa pic.twitter.com/QgXAoRsutB
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 19, 2018
“Brooke Bond Red Label’s purpose is to help people find common ground over a cup of tea,” said Hindustan Unilever Tea VP Shiva Krishnamurthy.
“The India-Pakistan Asia Cup match is the perfect occasion for Venkatesh Prasad and Aamer Sohail to come together over a tasty cup of Brooke Bond Red Label and chat about their epic exchange at the 1996 World Cup Quarter Final.”
“The idea of getting the two stalwarts from the two most rivalries cricketing nations of the world to sit down relive and probably share a laugh over a cup of tea made for a great initiative for Red label tea, a brand that has always stood for breaking barriers,” explains Mindshare Fulcrum SVP Premjeet Sodhi.
Ajay Mehta, VP of Mindshare Fulcrum Content+ added: “No one has seen Aamer Sohail and Venkatesh Prasad together after that electrifying match of 1996. To get them back after 22 years and that too in a live match between India and Pakistan, reliving the moment, this time over a different cup is sweet… isn’t it?”
Comment:
There’s nothing that a good cup of tea can’t solve….
The work has led to plenty of positive reaction and recollection from players
@StarSportsIndia It’s been 22 years! After all this time, it was excellent to see Venkatesh Prasad and Aamer Sohail break their rivalry and bond over chai. @RedLabelChai #SwadApnepanKa https://t.co/PdyJEvYF0r
— Mohammed Azharuddin (@azharflicks) September 23, 2018
and fans alike.
OMG! @StarSportsIndia bringing back my childhood cricket memories. Just saw Venkatesh Prasad and Aamir Sohail burying their lifelong rivalry over a cup of tea @RedLabelChai #SwadApnepanKahttps://t.co/I6qbDWT1hJ
— Sushil K Kashyap (@SushilKashyap01) September 18, 2018
This campaign came 22 years after the incident and leveraged the 2018 Asia Cup which saw both nations face off again after 15 months – reigniting the intense rivalry.
The campaign saw Brooke Bond Red Label go against the grain of the prevalent sentiment with its own take of helping people find common ground: bringing the two protagonists together over a cup of Brooke Bond tea and chat about their epic exchange of 1996 match, share a laugh and relive memories live during India-Pakistan’s live match.
The power of the conversations started a wave of positive conversations between two nations and many celebrities from the industry lauded the initiative.
The campaign showed that common ground, undoubtedly, is just a cup of tea away.
Links:
Star Sports
http://instagram.com/startvnetwork
https://www.facebook.com/StarTVNetworkIndia/
https://mobile.twitter.com/StarIndia
https://www.youtube.com/user/espnstar
Brook Bond Red Label
https://www.youtube.com/user/RedLabelIndia
https://www.facebook.com/RedLabelIndia
Mindshare Fulcrum
https://www.mindshareworld.com/contacts/mumbai
