Now, scientists will star in Pepsi ads

Film stars will be rested till pesticide controversy abates.

HYDERABAD: Scientists are set to replace film stars as Pepsi’s endorsement champions - for a while, at least.

Unsettled by the controversy over the presence of pesticides in colas, Pepsi has decided to deploy scientists of repute to endorse its products.

The cola major will kick off a low-intensity campaign using these scientists to refute the claim - that pesticide residues contaminate colas - made by the Centre for Science and Environment.

“We have already spoken to a few scientists,” Rajeev Bakshi, PepsiCo India chairman, told DNA in Hyderabad on Friday. But he refused to divulge their names because the arrangement is not yet in place.

Actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, and Kareena Kapoor, and sports stars like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have endorsed Pepsi. But it appears that they will have to take a break till the noise dies down. “Film stars are for the good times”, Bakshi said in a lighter vein.

Interestingly, none of the scientists is expected to charge Pepsi as they believe in the product and will just put the record straight, company officials said.

He said the directive issued by several states to withdraw colas from primary schools does not affect Pepsi because the company does not target this group anyway. “Primary schoolchildren are not equipped to make their own decisions,” he said.