'The TVC had a gorgeous underdog quality with no big celebrities'

Why is it my best campaign?
The Mera Number Kab Aayega TVC for Pepsi is still as relevant today as it was back in 2001, when we did it. It’s plaintive, irrepressible and very Indian. In fact, I heard somebody use it at the PVR multiplex last night when we were in the queue, trying to get tickets for Barfi. It’s also my favourite, because unlike other popular lines I’ve written, ‘Nothing Official About It’, ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’, ‘Oye Bubbly’, and ‘Zor Ka Jhatka, Dheere Se Lagey’ and ‘Darr Ke Aagay Jeet Hai’, this is actually a negative line. ‘Mera Number Kab Ayega’ is actually the slug line for a promo, which is about winning money if the number under your Pepsi crown cap gets picked out in a lottery. In the ads (there were 10 of them) Cyrus (Broacha)’s number never comes while everybody else’s does. We showed the main protagonist losing every week. It was a really gutsy thing for the client to do.

Also, this was supposed to be just a filler- type promo that we would run till we came out with our big campaign of the year. And then it went on to become the biggest hit of the year and the next two years. It had a gorgeous underdog quality, which I love and remember very fondly. There were no big celebrities in this ad. Typically, Pepsi advertisements have big stars with everybody claiming that the ads have worked because of them.

This used to to make me feel really defensive — I was much younger then. This ad, for which we roped in Cyrus, was — and still is — well-known in his own right but as he’d be the first to tell you, he’s no Katrina Kaif. And finally, this is my best campaign because I got pregnant with my third baby while working on it.

Client’s brief to the agency
The international brief for the campaign was titled Pepsi Numeromania. It was a total tongue-twister. And the mechanics of the promo were insane, You needed about 40 seconds just to explain it. And there was no internet to explain it either. We didn’t know what the hell to do with it, nor did Pepsi India. So, Pepsi India’s brief to us was to desi-fy it and make it less convoluted.

Challenges faced
Among the challenges was the aspect of making the Pepsi advertisement simple and easy to explain. We did a whole bunch of other ads, which our clients, Vibha Paul Rishi and Llyod Mathias, actually approved. In fact, we had begun our conversations with the producers once the ads got a go-ahead from the clients.

But suddenly, one Saturday, Vibha called us to the Pepsi office and said if we could take another bash at this. She said, she wanted to push the idea further. She wanted something irreverent. Don’t forget that this was the year when actor Hrithik Roshan had burst upon Bollywood like a shooting star and was endorsing Coke, so we were all quite rattled.

We continued working on the concept through the weekend. So, in a sense, the branding and the story ideas happened a day before the presentation. Finally, when Alok Lall and I went back with the campaign on Monday to her, she approved it just like that.

Outcome
As mentioned earlier, when we came up with the ‘Mera Number Kab Aayega’ concept, our brief was to have the word ‘number’ present in the campaign, since it had been followed internationally. Then, there was the risk of having a protagonist who didn’t win in the commercial. One thought that Pepsi wouldn’t like the idea what with the lead not being a classic winner.

But since Pepsi was bold enough to take it up, since it was appreciated by people, since it became a catchphrase of sorts, it ran successfully for three years after that. Even today, as I’ve said, people use it.

Will the campaign work today?
Totally. It’s a very relevant line. ‘Mera Number kab ayega’ is something I hear when people are hoping for a promotion, when they’re trying to score with chicks, when they pray to God. It’s the question on everybody’s mind. And it has so much optimism. I loved the way our protagonist always ended the ads with that life-affiming line, ‘Mera Number Ayega’.