Cola summer ad war: PepsiCo pokes Coca-Cola with 'anytime' over 'half time'

New Delhi: The never-ending hilarious ad war between beverage majors Coca-Cola and PepsiCo has taken off this season with Pepsico's 'any time' jibe at its bigger rival Coca-Cola's 'half time' campaign.

Replying to arch rival Coca-Cola's 'half time' campaign for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, PepsiCo came out with a full-page newspaper advertisement flipping the script with "any time" campaign with a direct hit on the cola major trying to grab the consumers' eyeball.

In its 'half time' campaign rolled out a month back across TV and digital platforms, the market leader sought to promote the idea of refreshing during pause times with a chilled soft drink.

However, PepsiCo with its witty 'any time' tag line kicked off the summer campaign with a message that why wait for a particular moment when every moment is better with a Pepsi in hand.

Pepsi in its latest ad has listed life's best moments -- first time, thirst time, day time, play time, class time, pass time, crunch time, lunch time, chill time, one more time, dinner time, winner time, down time, town time, we time, me time -- to enjoy the drink.

It has fondly brought back the days of humour and cheekiness in creative marketing. This also attracted comments on the social media platforms, where people fondly remembered the 1996 ad war, when Pepsi had launched its ad campaign titled 'Nothing Official About It'.

PepsiCo had lost the official beverage sponsorship rights to Coca-Cola in the 1996 Cricket World Cup, which was jointly hosted by India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Following that, Pepsico came with the famous 'nothing official about it' campaign starring cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, and Mohammed Azharuddin.

"For those who remember, 'Nothing Official About It' wasn't just a campaign — it was a cultural moment. A take from the brand that turned into an obsession amongst the audience, proving that sometimes, not trying too hard is exactly the winning move. And now, decades later, Pepsi seems to be channelling that same effortless confidence," said PepsiCo in a statement.

When asked, Rediffusion Chairman Sandeep Goyal told PTI: "Now they joust but they don't go for knock-outs."

"Colas were once the most exciting and engaging category in FMCG. Over the years, many more categories have grabbed consumer attention and have got consumers engaged and involved. So colas are not centre stage any longer to the same extent as maybe half a century ago," he said.

On Pepsico's latest fizzy masterstroke, brand thinker Harish Bijoor on social media platform 'X' through his account @harishbijoor said: "Sometimes, a competitor helps you hone your #BigIdea!This summer #CocaCola has done that favor to #Pepsi!The #Coke cricketCentric HalfTime ad begged a repartee!And Pepsi has its summer of content: #AnytimePepsi!I think this can move to be an #AlwaysPepsi even! Campaignable!."

Summer season this year has arrived earlier in India, which is one of the largest market for both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

On LinkedIn platform, Richa Arora, Marketer & Copywriter with Lyxel&Flamingo, said PepsiCo "hijacked the narrative" with minimal but powerful messaging.

"The Coca-Cola Company introduced its Halftime campaign, celebrating the power of a pause. But Pepsi flipped the script, turning the moment into ANYTIME – taking a direct jab at Coke's positioning," she said.