Coca Cola looks to bowl out Pepsi in Champions Trophy marketing contest

KARACHI - 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 nations official team sponsor Pepsi, by tapping into the countrys 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 Pakistans national team, who are sponsored by Pepsi, Coca-Colas 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.

Whats 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 bottles 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 countrys most famous cricketers.

I love tape ball cricket, so I admit its 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 Pakistans biggest cities, it said. Coca-Cola and Pepsi account for over 80% of the market share for carbonated drinks in