“Is Mahesh Babu the first regional star to get a national campaign with not a single Hindi film?” This awe-evoking question on Twitter is an example of how Tollywood star Mahesh created a sensation of sorts with his Thums Up campaign for the national audience.
Mahesh replaced Bollywood star Akshay Kumar as Thums Up brand ambassador. Mahesh and earlier Chiranjeevi endorsed Thums Up for Andhra market only.
“The Tollywood actor with chocolate boy looks and powerful screen presence has pan-India acceptability,” gushed Economic Times, writing about the shift in advertising world.
The multinational cola company’s decision to choose the reigning Telugu star as its national ambassador is not just because he gave two back to back hits in Dookudu and Businessman. Not just for his box office potential which enabled his films cross the Rs 50 crore mark in collections consecutively for three films.
Mahesh was recently voted fifth in the India’s Most Desirable Men 2011 list, ahead of Indian cricket skipper MS Dhoni, Shah Rukh Khan and Shahid Kapoor who are sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Times of India list.
According to Brand Stop, the decision of the change reportedly came from the Times 50 most desirable Men in India campaign, which declared Mahesh Babu as the 5th most desirable in the country.
So his being Tollywood number one hero was not the consideration for the national brands; that he has a pan-Indian appeal. Surprising that Mahesh should have acheived this image without acting even in one single film.
One reason could be Mahesh attracted the attention of non-Telugu viewers through the increasing popularity of South Indian movies dubbed in Hindi. According to television rating firm TAM, TV viewership of mostly south Indian movies dubbed in Hindi increased 70% year-on-year in 2011.
The Thums Up ad stared airing on channels from March 26. “By far, one of my best,” Mahesh Babu tweeted. The prince speaks in Hindi in this advt, but his voice was dubbed.
Check out the video:
