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UK body hisses over beer ads: Cobra withdraws, Kingfisher smiles

Murali Krishnan in London

Britain's two most prominent Indian beer brands, Cobra and Kingfisher, have clashed as the manufacturers of Cobra were forced to withdraw a key catchphrase from its advertising campaign.

The drama unfolded last week when British advertisement watchdog, the Advertisement Standards Authority, received complaints from four individuals in North Somerset and Surrey against Cobra's now well publicised slogan, ''The beer from Bangalore''; and the words ''original'' and ''genuine''. The advertisement appeared in leaflets, a table display card and a London underground poster for Cobra.

Cobra, which had used the services of Saatchi & Saatchi to create their half-a-million pound campaign, was forced to withdraw the first line.

''Now that the ASA has made this ruling we have stopped using the line, 'The Beer from Bangalore' and do not intend to use it,'' said a Cobra spokesperson.

The company's managing director, Karan Billimoria, highlighted the fact that the beer was first created in Bangalore by Mysore Breweries and was for years brewed there.

However, it became impractical to continue to import large quantities and Cobra had to grant a licence to ethnic beer specialist, Charles Wells in Bedford.

The company has, however, challenged the complaint against the use of words 'original' and 'genuine' saying it felt very strongly that the ASA was unjustified in preventing it from using those words.

''There is only one Cobra beer and that is ours,'' the company said.

The pull-up of Cobra by the ASA was followed by elation from its larger rival, UBSN Ltd, part of Vijay Mallya's United Breweries and makers of India's topselling beer, Kingfisher.

Brian Dozey, marketing director of Kingfisher in England, said: ''We feel the ASA has upheld the complaints correctly. Cobra's advertisements were misleading and they had to be removed.''

Another company official said: ''We are surprised Cobra made such a blatantly misleading claim -- Bedford is a long way from Bangalore -- a fact which has been recognised by the ASA and the Radio Authority.''

Bangalore also happens to be the headquarters of the UB empire, which was founded in the garden city by Vijay's father, Vittal Mallya.

Cambridge-educated Billimoria may have been upset by the ASA's ruling, but feels that Cobra will only grow and become more popular. Sold in almost all curry houses and restaurants in Britain, the campaign lent a cutting edge to its beer.

Besides the aforementioned advertising campaign, Cobra was also portrayed as a beer that ''helps you eat more'' -- acknowledging the fact Britain is a nation of curryholics.

Before the controversy broke out, Billimoria in an interview with Rediff On The NeT, said: ''Cobra is one of Britain's fastest growing beer brands which expects to sell 400,000 cases of beer in 1998.''

He added: ''It is the beer which is now sold in most supermarkets including Marks & Spencer.''

USBN sells Kingfisher brewed in Britain under licence from UB in India while its sister brand, Kalyani Export Special, is shipped direct from India.

Cobra, however, said it had ''no intention whatsoever to deceive or mislead anyone''.

But because the beer was brewed in licence in England, the authority asked the advertisers to delete the campaign, an official said.