But Nothing Official

Pepsi's efforts to woo Dravid began towards the end of the South African tour, by which time the sure-footed Karnataka bat had taken the first step towards becoming India's most reliable hand. He scored his first Test century at the Wanderers in the first innings, missed another in the second, and met Allan Donald's fire with cold fire at the finals of the Standard Bank Tri-Series.

Soon, Lokesh Sharma of sports management firm Grand Slam flew out from India and spoke to Dravid for Pepsi. The ads were apparently shot in the few days between the end of the South Africa tour and the beginning of the West Indies leg. Dravid had flown home earlier than the rest of the team--who had hopped over to Zimbabwe for two one-dayers--because his father was undergoing a bypass at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai. So, that helped. Simultaneously, it didn't help Sachin that he himself was having a horrible time, first as batsman, then as skipper.

The first indication that Mascarenhas and his WorldTel, sports telecasters, were unhappy with Dravid being signed up by Pepsi as its mascot for the summer of '97 came when Mascarenhas asked his commentators not to name Pepsi while mentioning the Independence Cup though Doordarshan was bound by the Pepsi contract to do so. The opening match at Mohali found Pepsi officials in a tizzy. "This man is using arm-twisting tactics," a Pepsi source told Outlook. Whatever for? Was WorldTel trying to pressurise Pepsi into renewing Sachin's contract at a huge price?

Final proof that things between Mascarenhas (and, therefore, Sachin) and Pepsi were bad came when Sharma did not get to do the Man of the Match presentation at Mohali, and every other ground thereafter.

Usually when WorldTel covers a tournament, one of its commentators dons the role of the Master of Ceremonies at the prize distribution. In the case of the Pepsi Independence Cup, former journalist Sharma was supposed to be the emcee as per the original contract. Instead, it was WorldTel man Ian Chappell who did the honours, in Mohali, Bangalore and Mumbai, and Ravi Shastri in Chennai. Mascarenhas says Sharma had been withdrawn by Pepsi for reasons best known to the company. But it was clear that there was no love lost between Mascarenhas and Sharma, who'd managed to move Dravid into the Pepsi stable.

Some rapprochement appears to have happened since then. While, during the Pepsi Independence Cup, Pepsi managers badmouthed Mascarenhas to any journalist who would listen, the company today denies any rift Says executive vice-president Vibha Paul Rishi: "Pepsi has had a long and good relationship with Sachin and we are looking forward to extending it. It's not at all correct that we're replacing Sachin with Dravid. Pepsi is so involved with cricket that all cricket heroes will be involved with it." The price? "Pricing is not an issue with Sachin."

Mascarenhas may have backed down on price. For, if Pepsi doesn't renew Sachin's contract, no other soft drink brand seems interested in having the Indian captain push it either. A Coke source told Outlook his company wasn't interested since celebrity endorsement wasn't part of its current ad plan. Besides, Sachin was well-nigh synonymous with Pepsi after the Sachin-Kambli-Azhar ad and the "nothing official about it" campaign. Cadbury Schweppes has launched Sport Cola, but managing director Ashok Jain says he is not interested in Sachin endorsing it. "Internationally, the brand avoids celebrity endorsement," he says.

And how much is the Pepsi-Dravid deal worth? No one's telling. Says Sharma: "There is no fixed rate card. When the market finds a fee acceptable, they buy it. It's not true that Sachin's getting deals in the range of Rs 3 crore, while Dravid is getting Rs 15-18 lakh, or that Dravid is replacing Sachin. All I can say is that Dravid has signed up with Pepsi for three years." At a fee of Rs 50 lakh? That's the figure advertising circles are bandying around.

Krishna Prasad with Neerja Pawha Jetley and Charubala Annuncio