In Calcutta, for example, to woo the cricket-crazy metro, Coca-Cola put up giant screens in padas for larger-than-life viewing. In addition, in 15 cities it started a Dial-A-Meal scheme. Says Rahul Dhawan, director of external affairs and corporate communications: ``With everyone watching TV, we thought we should focus on the home-consumption market.'' Coke also tied up with local bars and restaurants: if a four was struck while ordering the meal, the consumer got four free Cokes.

But perhaps, Coke's biggest splash in the World Cup came with the new Karisma Kapoor ad, `Refresh Ho Ja'. Pointing to the liberal use of ice, frost, and water in thead, Vinod Giri, senior brand manager, Coca-Cola India says: ``The entire ad was built around the intrinsic thirst-quenching benefits of the brand.'' The 40, 30 and 10-second ads were repeated with such frequency that Coke was on virtually once in every three commercial breaks on ESPN/Star Sports. In all the matches of the World Cup -- and not just the India matches. Says Dhawan: ``That's because, we are game-centric, not event-centric.'' Sure. Now if only Coke would reveal whether its home consumption increased or not -- that would be a refreshing change.