Coca-Cola to launch a street cricket programme

Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola will launch its street cricket series in the middle of the World Cup to cash in on the cricket fever in the country.

Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola will launch its street cricket series in the middle of the World Cup to cash in on the cricket fever in the country.

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Coca-Cola India is is all set to launch Sprite Gully Cricket, a programme spread across the country, targeting youngsters in nearly 100 towns and cities. More than 100,000 youngsters are expected to participate in this program at the grassroots level.

"This is a part of our ongoing efforts to promote sports at the grassroots level. We have been promoting programs like cricket, football etc and this campaign takes it forward," said an official of Coca-Cola India.

Coca-Cola, which is not an official sponsor of the World Cup, is aiming to launch this programme around the beginning of March, just as the cricket fever starts to peak and the World Cup contest starts getting interesting and intense.

The event will continue till mid-April leading to the Indian Premier League (IPL) where Coca-Cola India is expected to be a major partner with some prominent IPL teams.

The campaign will target cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Varanasi, Ranchi, Patna, Nasik, Rajkot, Mangalore, Vijayawada and Durgapur. The campaign will focus on cities where World Cup matches will be held.

To sustain the momentum and facilitate large scale participation, the company plans to distribute more than 5,000 cricket balls at small playgrounds in these cities which could be picked by teenagers and start a Game.

Coca Cola India has also conceptualized a high decibel campaign for Sprite to promote this activity.

The campaign will be aired to coincide with the inaugural match of the World Cup slated for Saturday and the company is understood to be spending more than Rs 35 crores to cash in on the cricket mania.