Prahlad Kakkar, renowned for his iconic ad campaigns with Bollywood stars and cricketers in the 1990s, shared anecdotes from his experiences while discussing his book “Adman Madman” in a conversation with Cyrus Broacha on The Quorum’s YouTube channel. Prahlad fondly recalled working with a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar shortly after he joined the Indian cricket team and signed with Pepsi.
During a Pepsi contest, where the winner would sit in the players’ box, Prahlad played a prank on Sachin. He jokingly told Sachin that the winner would be a girl, and he had to put his arm around her and lead her into the players’ box. Sachin, being shy and having never held a girl, hesitated and expressed his discomfort. Prahlad then revealed it was a joke and that Sachin only had to put his arm around a young boy, not a girl, which eased the cricketer’s nerves.
Prahlad fondly remembered Sachin’s innocence, noting that at the time, Sachin knew little English but was proficient in Marathi. He recalled an incident where Sachin, seeing a truck full of Pepsi, asked Prahlad’s driver if he could have a Pepsi, to which Prahlad humorously responded, “The whole truck is for you.”
