Thums Up
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| Type | Cola |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | The Coca-Cola Company |
| Country of origin | India |
| Introduced | 1977 |
| Related products | Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Campa Cola |
Thums Up is a brand of cola in India. The logo is a red thumbs up. It was introduced in 1977 to offset the withdrawal of The Coca-Cola Company from India. The brand was later bought by Coca-Cola who re-launched it in order to compete against Pepsi.
As of February 2012, Thums Up is the leader in the cola segment in India, commanding approximately 42% market share and an overall 15% market share in the Indian aerated waters market.
During the 1970s, American cola giant Coca-Cola abandoned operations in India rather than accept a forced sale of 60% of their equity to an Indian company. Following this, the Parle brothers, Ramesh Chauhan and Prakash Chauhan, along with then CEO Bhanu Vakil, launched Thums Up as their flagship drink, adding to their portfolio of older brands Limca (lime flavour) and Gold Spot (orange flavour).
Thums Up enjoyed a near monopoly with a much stronger market share, often overshadowing domestic rivals like Campa Cola, Double Seven, Dukes and United Breweries Group's McDowell's Crush, although many small players sold well in their own markets.
It was one of the major advertisers throughout the 1980s. In the mid '80s it faced short-lived competition from Double Cola.
In 1990, when the Indian government opened the market to multinationals, Pepsi was the first to come in. Thums Up and Pepsi subsequently engaged in heavy competition for endorsements. Pepsi spokespersons included major Indian movie stars like Juhi Chawla, while Thums Up increased its spending on cricket sponsorship. Thums Up also introduced a larger 300 ml (10 US fl oz) bottle, branded "MahaCola" (meaning "great [in size] cola"; the original size was 250 ml (8.5 US fl oz)). This nickname gained popularity in smaller towns where people would ask for "Maha Cola" instead of Thums Up. Consumers were divided, with some saying that Pepsi’s mild taste was rather bland.
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