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Chew on this, a Lalu toffee
Chew on this, a Lalu toffee
You've seen him at rallies, on TV, he's even done a cameo in a Bollywood film. You've read his biographies. A doll that looks just like him is all the rage with children while his pictures adorn packets of sattu. And now, you can actually take a bite of him.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is the face of a lozenge (lemon choos) that was recently launched by a chocolate firm in Delhi, under the Lalu brand. The lozenges are sold in pieces as well as in packs of 100 and are specifically aimed at rural consumers in Bihar. The packet comes with a picture of Lalu and is labelled 'Rabri-Lalu ka khajana'. This is the first time Rabri Devi has been launched as a brand.
Needless to say, this latest venture is a success, proving once again that Lalu's brand value is no less than Sachin Tendulkar, the Big B or Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Children can't seem to get enough of the sweets and keep coming back for more. "Laluji dijiye," they tell the shopkeepers, who are stocking up on the lozenges. And the distributors couldn't be happier.
The craze is a whole lot more in Chapra (Lalu's parliamentary constituency) and Gopalganj (his home district) and in Madhubani, Darbhanga, Hajipur and West Champaran.
In the last three months, over one lakh packets of Lalu lozenges have been sold in rural Bihar. According to a product representative, the company had the brainwave last year and decided to give it a try. Sales representatives in Bihar also clamored for it. Marketing techniques like lucky draws also helped boost sales, which is why no haat (fair) in the state is without a Lalu stall.
