Snapdeal’s mockery of Flipkart’s #AchhaKiya campaign puts the focus back on brand rivalries

Taking their rivalry up a notch, Snapdeal recently grabbed the chance to take on Flipkart’s #AchhaKiya campaign.

While Flipkart has been making a lot of buzz with their new campaign ‘Acha kiya nahi kharida’ (that obviously hints at an ensuing BIG sale), Snapdeal tried to steal a march on its opponent by launching ‘Achha kiya bata diya’ that comes with the hashtag #YahanSeKharido.

Flipkart’s promotional hashtag #AcchaKiya had taken over the internet and featured on billboards across the major Indian metros.

Stayed in Sarojini Market for 3 hours, ate panipuri, didn't buy anything. Saw this poster by @flipkart. #Acchakiya pic.twitter.com/J9MEvIFEOM

— Bhak Sala (@bhak_sala) June 18, 2015

But then Snapdeal took mischief to the next level by doing this.

But this is more than just mischief. Snapdeal has brilliantly carried out an outstanding marketing move against its direct competitor.

This comes days after the viral matrimonial post that appeared in Mumbai Mirror, TOI’s sister newspaper, and secretly promoted the Hindu.

Alhough the CEO of The Hindu reportedly expressed his disbelief over his team playing the prank, this does hark us back to the moments when leading media giants locked horns.

In its reply to TOI’s “Wake Up!” campaign (that featured Chennai readers being put to sleep by dull and drab news), The Hindu chose to “Stay Ahead of the Times”.

The battle between brands only gets smarter with such aggressive-yet-creative advertising campaigns, so says Smart Aleck. While comparative advertising openly throws down the gauntlet, here are some such ads that led biggies cross their swords:

Pepsi vs Coca-Cola

There’s no sugar in the two soft-drink giants’ relationship. They were and have been sworn enemies and the Pepsi Challenge started in 1975 only made it worse. Pepsi too fuelled it up through its 2011 release of the animated polar bear ad (where the animal that has been traditionally associated with Coca-Cola chose Pepsi over Coke).

Audi vs BMW

The German luxury car makers took their fight to the race tracks with Audi invited the bull in a 2009 billboard advertisement that read “Your move, BMW”. The latter was quick to respond. It returned the favour by posting an ad on an adjacent billboard saying “Checkmate”.

Again, Audi called names “Your pawn is no match for our king”. This time, BMW stole the show screaming “Game over” that was written on a zeppelin tied to Audi’s billboard advertisement.

Mercedes-Benz vs Jaguar

The former kicked off an ad campaign in September 2013. It said “What do chickens and Mercedes-Benz have in common? Stability at all times”. Three months later, Jaguar tut-tutted “Magic Body Control? We prefer cat-like reflexes, don’t you?”

In three days, Mercedes-Benz quipped this:

So, who do you think won in the cat-fight?

Samsung vs Apple

While the two tech bigwigs have been vying for supremacy in the smartphone market, Samsung openly threw the challenge calling itself The Next Big Thing. To promote its new smartphone, Samsung came up with this condescending idea of showing Apple fans waiting in a line for the next iPhone release while they were curiously checking out the Samsung phones of passers-by.

In 2013 it also tried to rake in scores showing what its product can do and the iPhone can’t at a graduation pool party.

McDonald’s vs Burger King

Burger King started it off featuring young Sarah Michelle Gellar in a commercial that alleged McDonald’s of giving smaller burgers to kids. McDonal’s sued Burger King over the ad but that has not deterred the latter producing more of such combative commercials.

Nintendo vs Sega

“Genesis does, what Nintendon’t”. This is how Sega took on Nintendo in the battle between Genesis and Super Nintendo.

Hindustan Unilever vs Procter &Gamble

The two has been skirmishing over who’s the whitest. HUL’s Rin sniped at the rival’s Tide Natural with the tagline “Tide se kahin behtar safedi de Rin”.

HUL’s Clinic All Clear Shampoo also took a jab at P&G’s Head & Shoulders when it featured Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu in a video that had muted reference to Head & Shoulders, of course in a condescending way.

Nestle vs Cadbury

The Pehli Tarikh war has only made their dispute prominent. Nestle spoofed Cadbury’s “Meetha hai khana aaj pehli tareekh hai” with its punchline “Khao bina tareekh dekhe”.

Horlicks vs Complan

While Complan was consistently harping on making kids “taller with its 23 vital nutrients”, Horlicks stole a march on the former coming up with its “Taller, Stronger, Sharper” ad.

Flipkart vs Snapdeal

Last year, when Flipkart was busy hyping its Big Billion Day, its archrival Snapdeal tried to steal the thunder announcing “For others it’s a big day. For us, today is no different”. Check it out:

tsk tsk!