More than 3 years ago, I wrote about Galla, the mango drink that redefined how mango drinks should be, beyond them playing peekaboo from Ms.Kaif’s irresistible lips.
Here is that post.
I used to love Galla, till it vanished out of the market. I then cajoled myself with lesser drinks like Maaza (I can’t stand Slice) and Del Monte’s Mango drink thingy. Duke’s Mangola has gone missing too, unfortunately.
Last week, I noticed something unusual in a nearby Cafe Coffee Day. The main granite top above the usual glass rack where they store their often ridiculed eatables (pastries, sandwiches etc.) contained a LOT of small bottles. The brand on the bottle was WTF* – *whattefun! I’m not joking – that IS the name.
I went closer, picked one and noticed that it was a range of fruit drinks, with 3 flavors – Mushy Mango, Pome Cherry Fusion (Pomegranate and Cherry) and Tangy Fusion (Kiwi, Green Apple and Lemon). And….it is produced by Galla Foods!! It is now being marketed by CCD and I thought this was a brilliant move to revive one of the best mango drinks India has seen. I picked up 5 bottles of mango, a bottle each of pome-cherry and tangy fusion.
The bad news first: Galla’s USP was right up in the bottle – ‘thick mango’. WTF’s mango is a shade above Maaza but no way close to the original Galla’s thickness. The price seems largely similar, however – Galla started with small 200ml bottles that used to retail between Rs.20-30. WTF comes in a larger 400ml bottle and retails for Rs.60.
In other bad news, the wonderful text in Galla’s pack has paved way to a seemingly-yuppy name and nothing else at all. The original package text (courtesy Ogilvy, I believe) went,
“A relationship works two ways. If you ainâ??t taking care of your mango, your mango ainâ??t taking care of you. Luckily, a mango is less fussy than us humans…” – more in the older post.
The good news? The other two flavors are quite good!
I believe CCD introduced WTF earlier this year. It is an interesting addition to their portfolio, but it pains me to see what the wonderful Galla has now turned into.
It looks like CCD had done some promotion too, for WTF.
Beyond all this, my disappointment in CCD diluting (quite literally) the original Galla can be summed up in one tweet, by the legendary ‘All India Bakchod’ man, @gkhamba:
Feel so bad for these marketing types trying to be “youthful”. Like CCDs new drink titled WTF* – *whattefun (link)