Reliance Isn't Selling Soda. They're Selling My Childhood.
The Return of the Red and Blue: Why the Indian Cola Wars Feel Personal Again
The heat in India has a way of stripping away your defenses. On a long drive through Telangana this week, the sun was relentless, and my resistance to sugar crumbled. I needed a cold drink. Not water—I wanted that sharp, aggressive fizz that hits the back of your throat and wakes you up.
Growing up, we didn't drink "soft drinks" in our family. They were a luxury, a guilty pleasure reserved for guests or rare celebrations. If you drank a cold one, you remembered it. You savored the glass bottle, the condensation on your fingers, the sugar rush.
But standing outside a roadside shop, scanning the sea of red Coca-Cola and blue Thums Up signs, I saw something that stopped me cold. A ghost from my childhood: Campa Cola.
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The Era of the "Indian" Cola
To understand why a simple logo triggered such a wave of nostalgia, you have to go back to the 70s. I grew up in an India where we lost the ability to drink Coke. In 1977, the government showed Coca-Cola the door, and suddenly, the market was wide open.
The competition to win the consumer mind wasn't global; it was intensely local. It was a battle between Campa Cola and Thums Up. I can still see the ads today. They thrilled us. They sold us a lifestyle we could barely touch—western, cool, effervescent.
We chose sides. You were either a Campa person (sweet, citrusy, fun) or a Thums Up person (strong, spicy, "grown-up"). It was a simpler time, or so we thought.
When MC Hammer Came to Town
Then came the 90s. The economy opened up, and the giants returned. I remember the shift vividly—suddenly, MC Hammer was on our TVs in parachute pants, telling us that Pepsi was "The Right Choice, Baby." It was cultural whiplash.
The competition got nasty. It wasn't just about catchy jingles; it was supply chain warfare. Companies would buy up the competition's empty bottles just to disrupt their distribution. If you couldn't get the glass back to the factory, you couldn't sell the drink. Thums Up was such a strong brand that even the mighty Coca-Cola couldn't kill it; they had to acquire it to survive. Campa, unfortunately, faded into the background.
The New Battlefield
This trip, however, proved that the war is back—and it is everywhere. It’s not just in the rural outposts of Telangana; the Campa resurgence is a nationwide phenomenon.
Campa is no longer just a nostalgic memory; it is a brand owned by Reliance Retail (Jio). And if you know anything about how Reliance operates, you know they don't play for second place. They are applying the same strategy to soda that they applied to data: aggressive pricing and massive scale.
While Coke, Sprite, and Thums Up have taken up every inch of ad real estate in rural areas, Campa is quietly, steadily reclaiming shelf space. It is a surreal sight for a marketer turned analyst like me. The "Cola Wars" used to be about East vs. West. Now, it is about the Global Giant vs. the Indian Titan.
A Sweet, Complicated Aftertaste
I wonder how this new chapter will be accepted by consumers. The younger generation doesn't have the baggage of the 70s. They don't remember the "Great Indian Taste" or the void left by Coke's exit. To them, it's just another option on the shelf.
But for me, seeing that bottle was complicated. It was a reminder of a time when our choices were limited, but our memories were sharp. I eventually walked away from the shop, the taste of the past lingering in my mind more than on my tongue. The brand has been resurrected, but the innocence of that 70s era? That’s gone for good.
Have you tasted the new Campa? Does it taste like 1982, or does it taste like 2026 strategy? I’d love to hear your take.
Sources
- [1] Reliance Retail acquires Campa brand from Pure Drinks Group (The Economic Times, 2022).
- [2] Coca-Cola acquires Parle's soft drink brands including Thums Up (Business Standard, 1993).
- [3] Historical context on Coca-Cola's exit from India in 1977 (New York Times archives).
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