Interesting Ethnic Supermarket Find: Thums Up! Cola

Recently while browsing some of Chicago's fine Indian/Pakistani grocers on Devon Avenue, my brother and I found ourselves face to face with a selection old fashioned, glass and metal soda bottles from India. Thums Up! stood out, with its positive affirmation thumb-up symbol, and the little paper ticket of nutritional facts added almost as an afterthought (visible under my finger).

After taking a sickly sweet and slightly chemically sip, I noticed this was in fact a Coca Cola product. My brother had seen this soda frequently in Chicago - but considering myself somewhat of a Indian grocery fanatic - it was new to me. So, I did what any normal geek would do, and I saved the bottle, took it home, and Googled it.

And then I stared at the image on their website for about 25 minutes.

Thums Up! Cola is apparently the leading cola brand in India, and has what their website calls "its strong, fizzy taste and its confident, mature and uniquely masculine attitude. This brand clearly seeks to separate the men from the boys." The picture on the corporate website that is apparently targeting Faith era George Michael fans is worth the click alone.

Who knew?