Ever wondered why ‘Thums Up’ has a missing ‘B’?

To make the brand name unique, dropping vowels or words has become a norm by the brand strategists in the corporate world. Sometimes, they choose to misspell names in an attempt to make the brand look unique.

It is believed that the human brain tends to remember a misspelt name for longer. For instance, Reddit, Tumblr, Flickr are etched in customers’ minds not only for their utility but also for their creative names.

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In some cases, there can be some interesting and unheard stories as well, why certain firms such as Thums Up dropped the letter ‘B’ from its name. Well, today we’re going to discuss why the beverage company chose ‘Thums Up’ instead of ‘Thumbs Up’.

Way back in 1977, Thums Up was launched. In the same year, Pepsi and Coke withdrew from India after the government made new investment rules for foreign-owned companies.

In the 1980s, Thums Up rapidly became a popular brand among the masses and achieved a near-monopoly among several cola products like Double Seven, Dukes and Campa Cola.

After much testing and experimentation, they eventually decided on the concentrated formula. The only thing left behind was to find a perfect name for the carbonated beverage.

When ‘Thumbs Up’ name was finalized, it received a lot of criticism as the brand name was not considered decent or it sounded derogatory in the local context. However, Ramesh Chauhan, the brand’s domestic partner, went with the same brand name.

To make the brand name distinctive and uncommon, the lawyers suggested the beverage manufacturer to drop the alphabet ‘B’. Hence, it was shortened to ‘Thums Up’.

It is worth noting that Thums Up is one of the largest cola brands in India with an average annual turnover of around Rs 5,000 crore. In 2017, Coca-Cola Co. celebrated 40 years of its brand Thums Up.