A World without Coca-Cola.

"Do you really want to live in a world without Coca-Cola?"

- Walter White/Heisenberg, Breaking Bad

I worship Breaking Bad, like so many other purists who knew of it before it became as famous as it is now, as well as like the newbies who started watching it because their friends were watching it. There have been several instances where Walter aka Heisenberg has employed the use of his 'colorful metaphors' to describe certain situations in his descent into darkness. 

After the show ended, I started watching random episodes again(it's now playing on Star World) with the homies, the girlfriend, or all by myself. Out of all the episodes, out of all the metaphors and quotes that Heisenberg spurts out sporadically in his trademark bad-ass baritone, the aforementioned quote(as well as the story behind it) is by far, the most insanely brilliant moment in television history. For those who don't know, Heisenberg describes the chemical potency of his product, that is 'crystal meth', to a group of meth manufacturers and distributors. What he says is that what the distributors produce is an impure, low-grade substance, comparing it to a sub-standard fizzy soda. And what he makes, is 'Classic Coke'.

Walt Buys a can of coke with the first ever dollar earned at the Car Wash.

When I watched the episode for the first time, I was just spellbound by the sheer audacity of the scene, and stood up and clapped at how fucking insane that moment was. As I watched that episode over and over again, I started taking something else out of the scene. There are so many things to take out of Breaking Bad, but this wasn't about Breaking Bad itself. Breaking Bad has had a powerful impact on me, but something else had an impact on something so powerful like Breaking Bad. Some entity that is so powerful and influential that a show like Breaking Bad had to feature it not once, but twice through the course of its cumulative airtime.

Like Heisenberg, I asked myself, "Do I really want to live in a world without Coca-Cola?" 

The World's Most Loved Brand

I always used to be a 'Pepsi fanboy', but I can't help but marvel at the sheer brilliance of how Coke has reached the hearts of billions of people all over the world. Until recently, Coke was the 'World's Most Valuable and Recognized Brand' till Apple and Google came along and pushed Coke down the charts. 

Still, the brand is recognized by 94% of the world's population. It is also the most valuable brand product on Facebook, and controls 44% of the global soda market share. Pepsi might come close to Coke in terms of revenue, but can never even imagine compare to the Coke's reach into the global marketplace, and the minds and hearts of consumers. And Coke's been doing this in style, for decades, even centuries.

So why is Coke so popular? For  a company that sells a calorie-heavy product that even contains pesticides, it is unfathomable to see it grow to be the world's most loved brand.  While other cola companies would communicate to the world that their product is completely pesticide-free and contains very few calories, Coke stuck to doing what they do best, and said this:

Sayin' it like it is.

While other brands fight it out over numerous celebrity endorsements, radical advertising strategies, cool-sounding brand stories,  and over-the-top marketing communication, Coke broke it down, got right to the roots and based their entire marketing communication around both the most complicated yet most simple emotion known to mankind: Happiness.

Opening Happiness

As much as I hate the three annoying cast members of that pathetic movie 'Student of the Year', I couldn't help but admire their latest TV ad campaign for Coke that promotes happiness through 'random acts of kindness'. The funda is simple: if you see anyone having a rough day, especially to strangers, hand them a Coke! It implies the notion that if people call you crazy for being kind to strangers, be proud to be crazy.

One of the few ads during my teenage years that actually made me smile.

Coke was smart enough to recognize the effect it was having on its consumers, and took that emotion and made it their brand story. It probably began when it was losing out to Pepsi for a few years, Coke spent years on understanding consumer psychology, and realized that the true secret to success is to not sell a product, but to sell feelings! The packaging for instance, the bottle design, went back to the 'classic coke' style, evoking memories of a simpler, happier time. One thing many people might not know is that Coke made it a point to get their product to the soldiers who were part of World War II. It was like getting a letter from home, but in this case, it was a soda.

Coke took the core element of happiness, made their communication as simple as possible. I'm sure for a fact that if you try to correlate the color red to a product, the first thing you would think of is Coke. Coke understood this very well and used their brand recall and loyalty to their advantage and designed an overall 'glocal marketing strategy' to share the love back to their consumers. I wouldn't want to get into the social and community-based initiatives by Coke, because quite simply, I'm not into that sort of thing when brands use social causes to their advantage.

Coming to my own life and the ones of the people I know, I've observed the following situations:

• Biriyani is incomplete without a dose of Coke. So is Pizza. And french fries. And Tandoori Chicken. And chips. And Kathi rolls. OK, I guess you get the point.
• Coke is a unanimous friend to the otherwise repulsive spirit called Rum.
• Movies aren't the same without Coke.
• Speaking of movies, popcorn isn't the same without Coke.
• You always tend to sub-consciously stock up on Coke during cricket matches. Whether is is consumed during the match, after winning or after losing. It doesn't matter.
• Sunny day = a bottle of coke. Or two.
• Chilling in the College canteen = a few bottles of coke. Or 15.
• Coke Ads  in the early 2000s with Aamir Khan. Class.
• When there is a large social gathering, especially in the case of families and relatives, someone ALWAYS has to say the phrase "Array yaar, koi Coke-shoke leke aao."

But why?

It so happened once that I was waiting for someone outside a restaurant, smoking a cigarette and sipping on a half-liter bottle of Coke to while away time, when a street kid, came begging, asking for money. She didn't notice the bottle of Coke in my hand yet. When she did, she told me, "Actually, don't give me any money. Just let me have the rest of that Coke." I did, and on her face I saw a smile so genuine, it made me wonder about the last time I saw a kid smile like that.

Come to think of it, Coke does equal happiness. People identify with Coke because happiness as a virtue, as an emotion, as a feeling is something we all yearn for in a way.

But on a broader perspective, why would any brand use a common word such as 'happiness' and build their campaigns around it? Would any regular brand go for something so simple, take such a big risk? People might say, 'LOL happiness? you gotta be fucking kidding me!' or 'Open Happiness? That sounds so gay!'

But why did it click?

The greatest and most successful brands have always established a personal connection with their consumers, and kept the communication simple. The most successful have always believed in selling feelings, over selling the product. Martin Luther King did it with 'I have a dream'. Apple did it with 'Think Different'. Nike did it with 'Just Do It'. Coke didn't do anything different. They all kept it simple.

And that, is where Coke hit the jackpot. Coke understood that if they believed in the emotion of something as pure, raw and simple as happiness,  people would believe in their idea and would buy their product, for sure. 

To quote Simon Sinek from 'The Golden Circle' philosophy, 

"People don't buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it."

So seriously. Do you really wanna live in a world without Coke?

Chennai rains and Chennai girls : Confessions of a Chennai Pluviophile

On this gloomy Sunday Chennai morning, I can't help but contemplate about the past, the present and future prospects as I walk my dogs down my street. I do this on a daily basis, and many a time in the rain, but no morning has been so moody and thought-provoking as this.

In the past couple of months I've seen my life turn around in front of my eyes, totally aware and awake, yet totally unaware and dazed. Going through a rough phase following a breakup, drowned in self-pity and hopelessness, I never thought I could be the same person again. Though I don't really blame anyone for it, what remained behind was a total disregard for humanity and a a complete shock in context to the erratic nature of us human beings. It was shocking to see how quickly how most of us change in such a short span of time. It was shocking how quickly our whole outlook and perception towards certain things change. Our belief systems, our principles, our desires, our ambitions, our dreams, our whole persona can change in an instant. Change may be good, but at what cost?


And then I discovered what change really is, when I met a woman I used to know as a friendly acquaintance about a couple of months ago. Conversations led to repulsion led to even more conversations led to a few meetings led to some more repulsion led to more meetings and a whole lot more conversation led to eventual persuasion. What followed has been nothing short of the stuff that goes into novels and novellas. What's even more intriguing is the huge role that the Chennai monsoon has played into scripting the prologue of a hopefully long and never-ending tale.

This woman, the rains and a lot of other factors have culminated into a peculiar emotion of pleasant surrealism, and I often find myself wondering if this is really happening. The familiar streets I used to walk on a regular basis, the familiar places I used to frequent since I was a child, suddenly seem totally new. I found every single Bollywood cliche coming to life, especially in the context of the role rain plays in typical Bollywood movies. This rain, this fucking rain, makes everything so unbelievable, so surreal that you start to question your sanity and also induces a fear of what will happen if I lose what I have right now, if I lose her in the future.

But at the same time it's made my turbulent mind come to terms with life. This woman and this rain together have changed  me in and out, and helped me come to terms with my past. They've taught me to be more understanding, more compassionate and made it easier to let go of the things I tried to hold on to unnecessarily. They've made me feel guilty about blaming myself, blaming the person I used to be with earlier. Why did I blame her so much? It wasn't her fault. She moved on, and I didn't. It's as simple as that. We come across so many people in our lives and every single person has a part to play in our lives, and changes us forever. Maybe for the bad, maybe for the good. But every single thing is an experience, which is obviously good. And so did the person with whom I used to be. She changed me in so many ways, and so will the woman I'm with right now. If I could, I'd hold on to this forever, but life doesn't work that way. The only constant is 'change'. However, is isn't wrong to have a little hope, and try working towards holding on to what/who you love.



As I inhale the final few drags of my morning cigarette, I can't help but think that these Chennai rains and Chennai girls are also weirdly comforting, soothing and constantly remind you to chill the fuck out. They teach you that life, though beautiful, is unpredictable. Sometimes there's a drizzle, sometimes there's a fucking downpour. You might find shelter, or you might get drenched to the bone. It's up to you whether you want to carry an umbrella and protect yourself, or let the chips fall where they may. And of course, there is this other situation where you carry an umbrella, it rains, and you decide to throw that fucking umbrella away and get drenched anyways.

You can't expect it to rain when you want it to, neither can you expect it to stop when you want it to. Just do what you're doing with an honest heart and an open mind, and enjoy the fucking moment. If something is meant to happen, it will.

"That may be all I need

In darkness, she is all I see

Come and rest your bones with me

Driving slow on Sunday morning

And I never want to leave."