Sponsored Heroes
Posted: April 26, 2013 Filed under: Art, Coca-Cola, Design, Graphic, Graphic Design, Illustration, Italy, parody | Tags: adidas, Apple, Avengers, Batman, Burger King, captain america, Coca-Cola, Flash, funny, hulk, Iron Man, McDonald's, monster, Nike, Roberto Vergati Santos, sponsored heroes, superheroes, Superman, Wolverire Leave a comment »“Imagine if one day capitalism reaches the point, where the big brands starts to sponsor the superheroes. How would this influence their images?”
Being a superhero doesn’t seem to be a lucrative gig, but what if it was? Brands sponsor athletes and celebrities all the time, and with the increasing popularity of superheroes, it’s not all that shocking to think that The Incredible Hulk could one day be rocking a massive Monster logo across his chest.
Italian graphic designer Roberto Vergati Santos imagined many of our favorite superheroes sponsored by our favorite brands. The aptly titled ‘Sponsored Heroes’ series sees characters from both the Marvel and DC Comics universe, and includes all the members of The Avengers, Batman, Wolverine, and many more. Batman can be seen sporting a Nike suit of armor, while Iron Man has been stamped with the golden arches of McDonald’s, and Captain America is seen holding a massive UPS shield. Check out some of the superheroes from the collection below.
IRON MAN – Sponsored by McDonald’s
HULK - Sponsored by Monster Energy
WOLVERINE - Sponsored by Adidas
BATMAN - Sponsored by Nike
CAPTAIN AMERICA - Sponsored by UPS
FLASH - Sponsored by Red Bull
AVENGERS - Sponsored by Coca-Cola
SILVER SURFER- Sponsored by Apple
SUPERMAN - Sponsored by Giorgio Armani
IRON MAN (Sponsored by McDonald’s) vs CAPTAIN AMERICA (Sponsored by Burger King)
Droga5, Coke Zero and the Best Slideshare Presentation Ever
Posted: March 29, 2013 Filed under: Beverages, Case History, Coca-Cola, TV/Film, USA, Viral | Tags: Coke Zero, Conan O’Brien, David Droga, Droga5, enjoy everything, It’s Not Your Fault, NCAA, Slideshare, USA Leave a comment »
This is Droga5′s first work for Coke Zero.
The Brand is using Coca-Cola’s rights as an NCAA official Corporate Champion to tie-in March Madness with its new ‘It’s Not Your Fault’ campaign. Part of the brand’s umbrella ‘Enjoy Everything’ initiative, this new light-hearted, fun creative celebrates ‘guys-being-guys’ as the soft drink brand aims to connect male bonding to college basketball’s end-of-season national championship.
The campaign takes a lighthearted and comedic approach to say that with Coke Zero you can Enjoy Everything in life. “It’s Not Your Fault” also celebrates guys-being-guys. The Enjoy Everything campaign has evolved on the notion of owning quintessential guy moments of bonding and camaraderie, from sports and entertainment to humor, gaming and music.
“We’re talking to men more overtly with ‘It’s Not Your Fault’,” said Pio Schunker, SVP and Head of Integrated Marketing Communications, North America Group. “We’re positioning Coke Zero as a defender and celebrator of guy enjoyment.
The new campaign rolls out during NCAA® March Madness® debuting a 30-second television advertisement entitled March Madness.
The narrative’s message is simple – it’s not your fault you can’t do anything but watch basketball during NCAA March Madness – and the work has been created in partnership with creative agency Droga5 New York, media agency Starcom MediaVest Group, Turner and the NCAA.
Follow up commercials within the campaign also include Gumbel, Schedules, Emotions, Scholastics, History, Statistics and Technology
Another strand of the campaign sees Coke Zero partner with talk show host Conan O’Brien: the TV chat star, whose evening show will move from LA to Atlanta for selected programmes during the tournament and will be sponsored by the soft drink, will appear in a bespoke Coke Zero TV spot towards the culmination of the competition and the brand’s “It’s Not Your Fault” campaign will link with the show. Coke Zero is also backing a Conan music series with performances in Los Angeles, Austin and Atlanta. Andy Richter, the Conan sidekick, will emcee them. Big name musicians are also set to headline the ‘Conan Coke Zero Music Series’ on the ‘Road to the Final Four’, while Coke Zero and Conan are also co-creating a bespoke ‘It’s Not Your Fault’ promotional spot.
The campaign is also running on the official March Madness Live mobile app, in-game broadcast enhancements and a funny Slideshare Presentation.
This presentation offers a detailed exploration into all the reasons why man is unable to do anything but watch basketball during the NCAA tournament… View the presentation on Slideshare: http://CokeURL.com/nl4t
“Coke Zero has experienced quarter after quarter growth and success, and we hope to see this campaign continue the momentum. ‘It’s Not Your Fault’ is launching in a big way through universal guy assets like NCAA March Madness and a co-branded promotional spot with CONAN,” said Andy McMillin, VP, Coke Trademark, North America Group. “Coke Zero brand attributes are well established, now it’s time for the brand to make the next big leap to connect with its drinkers. The brand definitely is evolving.”
Haddon Sundblom for Coca-Cola – The Man Who Painted Christmas
Posted: December 14, 2012 Filed under: Art, Beverages, Case History, Coca-Cola, Graphic, Graphic Design, Illustration, Legendary, Press/Outdoor, Testimonial, USA, Vintage | Tags: advertising, artwork, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Clement Moore, Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Santa Claus, coke, Haddon Sundblom, icon, Santa, St. Nicholas, the pause that refreshes, USA Leave a comment »
Though he was not the first artist to create an image of Santa Claus for Coca-Cola advertising, Haddon Sundblom’s version became the standard for other Santa renditions and is the most-enduring and widespread depiction of the holiday icon to this day. Coca-Cola’s Santa artworks would change the world’s perception of the North Pole’s most-famous resident forever and would be adopted by people around the world as the popular image of Santa.
In the 1920s, The Coca-Cola Company began to promote soft drink consumption for the winter holidays in U.S. magazines. The first Santa ads for Coke used a strict-looking Claus. In 1930, a Coca-Cola advertised with a painting by Fred Mizen, showing a department store Santa impersonator drinking a bottle of Coke amid a crowd of shoppers and their children.
Not long after, a magical transformation took place. Archie Lee, then the agency advertising executive for The Coca-Cola Company, wanted the next campaign to show a wholesome Santa as both realistic and symbolic. In 1931, the Company commissioned Haddon Sundblom, a Michigan-born illustrator and already a creative giant in the industry, to develop advertising images using Santa Claus. Sundblom envisioned this merry gentleman as an opposite of the meager look of department store Santa imitators from early 20th century America.
Sundblom turned to Clement Moore’s classic poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (better known as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”) for inspiration:
His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples: how merry,
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow
The ode’s description of the jolly old elf inspired Sundblom to create an image of Santa that was friendly, warm and human, a big change from the sometimes-harsh portrayals of Santa up to that time. He painted a perfectly lovable patron saint of the season, with a white beard flowing over a long red coat generously outlined with fur, an enormous brass buckle fastening a broad leather belt, and large, floppy boots.
Sundblom’s Santa was very different from the other Santa artworks: he radiated warmth, reminded people of their favorite grandfather, a friendly man who lived life to the fullest, loved children, enjoyed a little honest mischief, and feasted on snacks left out for him each Christmas Eve . Coca-Cola’s Christmas campaign featuring this captivating Santa ran year after year.
As distribution of Coca-Cola and its ads spread farther around the world, Sundblom’s Santa Claus became more memorable each season, in more and more countries. The character became so likable, The Coca-Cola Company and Haddon Sundblom struck a partnership that would last for decades. Over a span of 33 years, Haddon Sundblom painted imaginative versions of the “Coca-Cola Santa Claus” for for Coke advertising, retail displays and posters.
Sundblom initially modeled Santa’s smiling face after the cheerful looks of a friend, retired salesman Lou Prentiss. “He embodied all the features and spirit of Santa Claus,” Sundblom said. “The wrinkles in his face were happy wrinkles.” After Prentiss passed away, the Swedish-American Sundblom used his own face as the ongoing reference for painting the now-enduring, modern image of Santa Claus.
In 1951, Sundblom captured the Coca-Cola Santa “making his list and checking it twice.” However, the ads did not acknowledge that bad children existed and showed pages of good boys and girls only. Mischievous and magical, the Coca-Cola Santa was not above raiding the refrigerator during his annual rounds, stealing a playful moment with excited children and pets, or pausing to enjoy a Coca-Cola during stops on his one-night, worldwide trek. When air adventures became popular, Santa also could be caught playing with a toy helicopter around the tree.
Haddon Sundblom passed away in 1976, but The Coca-Cola Company continues to use a variety of his timeless depictions of Saint Nicholas in holiday advertising, packaging and other promotional activities. The classic Coca-Cola Santa images created by Sundblom are as ubiquitous today as the character they represent and have become universally accepted as the personification of the patron saint of both children and Christmas.
As Joanna Berry, Lecturer in Marketing at Newcastle University Business School, explains: ”Whilst Sundblom didn’t invent Santa as the jolly, white haired rotund old man we all now expect, he certainly did more than anyone to imprint that image onto our minds in relation to Coca-Cola in one of the most enduring brand images ever to have been created.”
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A tribute to Haddon Sundblom from “Coke Side of Life” Campaign
Coca-Cola Happiness Truck around the World – Where Will Happiness Strike Next?
Posted: October 1, 2012 Filed under: Argentina, Beverages, Brazil, Canada, Case History, Coca-Cola, Event, France, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Promotion, Russia, The Nederlands, The Philippines, Turkey, Viral | Tags: Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola's 125th Anniversary, Coca-Cola's Semangat Truck, coke and meals, Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Happiness Truck, Olympic edition, rio de janeiro, The Cheering Truck, uefa edition, Viral, Where Will Happiness Strike Next? Leave a comment »
Inspired by the vending machine that dispensed Coca-Cola and other “doses of happiness” on a college campus in New York and quickly became a global viral video sensation; a specially rigged Coca-Cola delivery truck took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro recently to spread refreshment and smiles to passers-by.
All the action is captured in a two-and-a-half-minute film. In the video, several unsuspecting Brazilians push a button on the back of the truck to dispense Coca-Cola and other fun items such as soccer balls, surfboards and sunglasses.
“‘Happiness Machine’ connected with so many people because the emotion was authentic, unscripted and contagious,” said A.J. Brustein, Global Senior Brand Manager, Coca-Cola. “We wanted to inspire that same feeling again by creating something consumers would respond to and want to share with others because it put a smile on their face.”
Happiness Truck is one of many videos that can be found on the Facebook hub for “Where Will Happiness Strike Next?”. The hub features more than 25 films from around the world that have been created by local Coca-Cola teams to continue the theme of the award-winning “Happiness Machine,” which has generated more than 3 million online views. The interactive site lets consumers search for videos by country and even vote for where they’d like to see happiness strike next.
“We weren’t trying to replace ‘Happiness Machine’ with the ‘Happiness Truck,’” said Christy Amador, Digital Marketing Manager, Global Content Excellence. “We wanted to build on this great idea and continue to answer the question, ‘Where Will Happiness Strike Next?’ by spreading a message of happiness around the globe. These videos from markets all over the world help us to do just that.”
Two of the new films on the hub include a version of “Happiness Truck” filmed in the Philippines and “Happiness Store,” where convenience store customers in Rio are surprised with confetti, lights, live music and more upon grabbing a Coca-Cola from the cooler. ”Happiness Machine” – which cost very little to produce – proved that we don’t need to spend millions to produce winning creative, and that great ideas and content can be sourced from anywhere.
Happiness Truck in Rio De Janeiro
A Coca-Cola delivery truck is converted into a happiness machine on wheels delivering “doses” of happiness in the streets of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Where will happiness strike next?
Happiness Truck in Canada
A Coca-Cola delivery truck is converted into a happiness machine on wheels delivering “doses” of happiness in the streets of Toronto, Vancouver & Montreal, Canada. After a full day of sharing happiness, the experience culminated in a 3-city simultaneous musical celebration featuring Kardinal Offishall in Toronto, These Kids Wear Crowns in Vancouver & Duke Squad in Montreal, to celebrate Coca-Cola’s 125th Anniversary. Where will happiness strike next?
Happiness Truck in Philippines
A Coca-Cola delivery truck is converted into a happiness machine on wheels delivering “doses” of happiness in the streets of Marikina, Philippines. Where will happiness strike next?
Happiness Truck in Kenya
Happiness Truck in Malaysia
The town with a population of over 150,000 kicked off its evening with a surprise from Coca-Cola’s Semangat Truck. What a nice prelude to dinner.
Happiness Truck in Venezuela
Happiness Truck in Ecuador
Happiness Truck in India
Happiness Truck in Russia (CHRISTMAS Edition)
Happiness Truck in France (UEFA Edition and OLYMPIC Edition)
Happiness Truck in Honduras
Happiness Truck in Turkey
Happiness Truck in Naples (COKE & MEALS Edition)
A Coca-Cola delivery truck is transformed into a happiness table in a small square in Naples. Famous chef Simone Rugiati is on a mission asking people
to eat together delivering “doses” of happiness through a magic food cloche.
Happiness Truck/The Cheering Truck in Argentina (FOOTBALL Edition)
This time, Coca-Cola outfitted a special red truck with a recording booth and has been travelling around Argentina collecting the cheers of football (or soccer depending on where you are from) fans to support the Argentinean team. Fans are encouraged to record their cheer to be heard by millions.
The truck drove through 19 different provinces in Argentina as it collected the cheer of over a million different voices. On the day of the match, the Coca-Cola Cheering Truck drove into a stadium that only had room for 50 thousand fans and played the recordings of over a million fans chanting and cheering for the team. Way to rally the troop Coca-Cola!
Coca-cola has been doing some really creative marketing campaigns that have utilized a traveling truck concept (see The Happiness Truck). It’s their way of spreading happiness throughout the world…not to mention strengthening their brand!
Happiness Truck in Hong Kong (TRANSFORMERS Edition)
Happiness Truck in Mongolia
Happiness Truck in Nederland
Happiness Truck in Poland (Euro 2012 Edition)
Happiness Truck in Azerbaijan
Where will happiness strike next? Of course in Baku, Azerbaijan. A Coca-Cola delivery truck has been converted to a happiness machine, which rides through Baku streets and shares the 125 year old happiness with Azeri people.
Happiness Truck in Ucraine
Happiness Truck in Egypt (RAMADAN Edition)
Coca-Cola Egypt gives people more reasons to believe using its Happiness Truck to spread happiness and joy in Cairo making Ramadan 2011 better for all Egyptians.
Happiness Truck in Mexico
15 Best Olympics Advertising for London 2012
Posted: July 26, 2012 Filed under: Beverages, Cliché, Coca-Cola, Event, Sportwear, Testimonial, TV/Film, UK, USA | Tags: 15 Best Olympics Advertising for London 2012, adidas, advertising, best job, British Airways, Coca-Cola, Find your greatness, London 2012, Mark Ronson, McDonald's, move to the beat, Nike, Olympic, omega, P&G, Powerade, samsung, start me up, UK, Visa, Wieden + Kennedy 7 Comments »1 – Procter & Gamble – Best Job
Arguably the most memorable Olympics 2012 ad, Procter & Gamble champions mums in this commercial titled ‘Best job’. The tear jerker, created by Wieden + Kennedy Portland, follows four child athletes on their path to the London Olympic Games, supported, cared for and encouraged by their mothers every step of the way.
2 – Nike – Find Your Greatness
Nike does it again. Now famous for its ambush marketing tactics around major global sporting events, the sports apparel giant launched ‘Find your greatness’ in 25 countries yesterday to coincide with the opening ceremony. Cleverly avoiding any mention of London 2012 and the Olympic rings, the ad features places across the world with ‘London’ in their names, along with local everyday athletes enjoying their sports. The ad was created by Nike’s longterm agency partner Wieden + Kennedy.
3 – Coca-Cola – Move to the Beat
Mother London, Mark Ronson and Coca-Cola traveled the world to create a new dance track using the sounds of sport from 5 Olympic hopefuls.
4 – Omega – Star Me Up
A remix of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Start me up’ sets the pace for this commercial with the same title for Omega, the official timekeeper of the Olympics 2012. The ad lingers on the moments right before the start of a race or event, the tension felt by the athletes as they hone their focus for the task ahead.
5 – McDonald’s – Rivals
The Olympic spirit lives within us all. And when gold medals don’t provide enough motivation for greatness, McDonald’s is proud to serve the Happy Meals, Big Macs, and Fries that put everyone in the mood for a little competition.
6 – British Airways – London Calling
British Airways has launched its Olympic advert as anticipation builds ahead of the Games. It features one of BA’s jets strolling through London and showcasing landmarks such as Trafalgar Square and the Palace of Westminster, before taking in the Olympic Stadium in Stratford. Best of all though, it is set to the soundtrack of The Clash’s London Calling
7 – Adidas – What will you take?
Among others, Olympic Games sponsor Adidas created ‘What will you take?’ in support of Team Great Britian in partnership with agency Sid Lee. The colourful advert touches on all aspects of being an Olympian, both good and bad, as it challenges the athletes to take the stage and embrace this fleeting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
8 – Icy Dew – Sixty Percent
Taking a break from the blood, sweat and tears approach, Coca-Cola bottled water brand Icy Dew created this amusing ’60 per cent water’ TVC in partnership with BBH Shanghai ahead of the Games. While this one might not stir the Olympian in you, it will certainly make you chuckle.
9 – Powerade – Power Through
Another Wieden + Kennedy addition, Powerade‘s ‘Power through’ Olympics advert focuses on “the line between breaking point and breaking through”, the extra effort that makes the difference between those athletes that go home with a medal and those that return disappointed. More muscles, more tension and another emotionally charged voice-over, the real stuff of Olympics advertising.
10 – Samsung – Are You Ready?
Cheil Worldwide launched this ‘Are you ready?’ ad for Olympic sponsor Samsung in support of its Galaxy S3 model across 20 countries this week. Olympics ambassador David Beckham signals the start of the event by kicking a ball against a gong in an impressive long-range shot.
11 – Visa- The Difference
Worldwide sponsor Visa has been putting its name to the Olympic Games for 25 years. This ad, titled ‘The difference’, was created by TBWA Chiat Day Los Angeles and narrated by Hollywood legend Morgan Freeman. This is just one in a series of Sepia-coloured ads marking Visa’s quarter century partnership with the Games this year.
12 – National Lottery Funded Athletes - Jenny Meadow Mother’s Story
Inspired by the story of 800 metres runner Jenny Meadows’ mother, our newest TV advert looks at how National Lottery funding helps British athletes achieve their dreams. Extended version. Thanks to TNL players we’re helping over 1,200 British athletes fulfil their dreams at London 2012 and beyond. No-one has contributed more to our athletes than our players.
13 – EDF - Powering The Games
EDF is an official partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, supplying the Olympic Park with low carbon electricity for a sustainable Olympics to remember.
14 – GlaxoSmithKline - Marlon Devonish
Touching on the ugly side of sport, GlaxoSmithKline features English sprinter Marlon Devonish to promote its provision of anti-doping laboratory services at the Games. Created by TBWA London, the advert takes the viewer inside the athlete’s body to experience the tension and exhilaration as he prepares to run the race of a lifetime.
15 – BP - Fuelling The Future
BP is proud to be the Official Oil and Gas Partner for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as a Premier Partner of the Cultural Olympiad.
Songvertising – 32 best commercials with singing people
Posted: July 12, 2012 Filed under: TV/Film, Cannes Lions, Argentina, Australia, USA, New Zealand, Viral, Car, Social, Spain, Coca-Cola, UK, South Africa, Axe, Best Use of Television, Alcoholic Drinks, Beverages, Norway, Testimonial | Tags: 32 best commercials with singing people, Argentina, arnet, basf, BBDO, BBH, Big Ad, boy band, Burger King, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Carlton Draught, choir, Coca-Cola, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, dear john, Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Diesel, Droga5, Fallon, google demo slam, Heineken, Hilltop, Honda, i would run to you, Impossible dream, Michael Jackson, mow the lawn, Nike, Norte Beer, numa numa, pepsi, pretty, Puma, rexona, Saatchi & Saatchi, singing cowboy, Songvertising, Starbucks, t-mobile, TV/Film, welcome back, Wieden + Kennedy, wilkinson, yeo valley Leave a comment »
1 – YEO VALLEY ORGANIC – Boyband
In a follow-up to last year’s rapping farmers ad, Yeo Valley launched a tv spot during the first ad break of The X Factor live show. The one-off, two-minute music video features a farming-inspired boy band called The Churned, singing a ballad entitled Forever. The ad was shot on location in Blagdon, in the heart of rural Somerset. The launch tied in with a Facebook karaoke competition, where users could sing along to the Yeo Valley track. The winner appeared in a 30-second version of the ad, which ran during the X Factor final on 11 December.
Advertising Agency: BBH London
Year: 2012
Shortlist
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2 – CARLTON DRAUGHT – Big Ad
An epic send-up of big budget ads, featuring a cast of thousands. Song lyrics: “It’s a big ad / very big ad/ it’s a big ad we’re in./ It’s a big ad/ my God it’s big/ can’t believe how big it is/ it’s a big ad for Carlton Draught / It’s just so freaking huge! / It’s a big ad/ expensive ad! / This ad better sell some bloooooody beer!!!
Advertising Agency: George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne
Year: 2006
Gold Lion
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3 – PUMA – Hardchorus
We open on a small group of hardcore soccer fans, also known as hooligans, standing in a classic British pub. Suddenly, one of them starts singing the first words of “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Savage Garden. Another hooligan joins in, and as the camera pulls out, we see that the whole pub is packed with hooligans. They all sing together with the power of an entire stadium of fans during a soccer game, turning the cheesy love song into something big, beautiful and romantic. After the last chorus, a super appears: “It’s match day. It’s Valentine’s Day. Let your better half know how you feel. Dedicate and send this song at pumahardchorus.com”. Followed by Puma’s “Love = football” next to the Puma logo.
Advertising Agency: Droga5
Year: 2010
Gold Lion for the Campaign
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4 – NORTE BEER – It’s Good to Have Friends
Beer means friendship, and this campaings presents in funny way the different kind of friends we all have.
Advertising Agency: Del Campo/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Buenos Aires
Year: 2009
Silver Lion for the Campaign
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5 – T-MOBILE – Welcome Back
On October 27th 2010, thousands of unsuspecting passengers arriving at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 were given a welcome home to remember. People were greeted by a 300 strong choir and vocal orchestra singing a medley of songs, completely a cappella, to welcome them back into the country.
Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Satchi, London
Year: 2011
Silver Lion
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6 – COCA-COLA – Hilltop
Advertising Agency: McCann Erikson
Year: 1971
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7 – HEINEKEN – Singer
A blues singer can’t sing the blues – his life is too contented. A sip of lager soon changes that. Heineken refreshes his blueness.
Advertising Agency: Lowe Haward- Spink, UK
Year: 1992
Gold Lion
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8 – HONDA – Impossible Dream
A man travels on an incredible journey using some of Honda’s landmark products whilst miming to the Andy Williams song ‘The Impossible Dream’. His journey comes to an abrupt end when he leaps off a giant waterfall in a Honda Powerboat into the mist below. Surely, this is the end of his dream? However as Andy Williams reaches the crescendo of the song, our hero returns in a Honda Hot Air Balloon to finish off the song in style. Garrison Keillor – the voice of Honda – sums it all up with ‘I couldn’t have put it better myself’.
Advertising Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, London
Year: 2006
Gold Lion
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9 – COCA-COLA – Choir
Here’s Coca-Cola celebrating along with Santo its 125th year, and once again, we are guilty of naivety. We believe that, even today, the world is not far from the world that we dream of. In fact we are so naïve about thinking this way, that we decided to carry out an investigation to evaluate just how justified our reasons to believe in a better world were. We are proud to present to you “Choir”, created by Santo for Coca-Cola Latin America and their new communications platform: “REASONS TO BELIEVE IN A BETTER WORLD”.
Advertising Agency: Santo, Buenos Aires
Year: 2011
Silver Lion
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10 – T-MOBILE – Singalong
When T-Mobile invited the British public to be part of their next event, people turned up to Trafalgar Square, not knowing what they were letting themselves in for. Thousands of microphones were handed out as it was revealed they’d all be singing karaoke together. After a number of songs, and with a surprise guest appearance from Pink, the event culminated with everyone singing the timeless classic, ‘Hey Jude’
Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Satchi, London
Year: 2010
Shortlist
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11 – NIKE FREE RUN – I Would Run to You
Love makes people do crazy things. Like run across the country. See how strong running reunites a long distance couple.
Advertising Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland
Year: 2012
Bronze Lion
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12 – NIKE – Pretty
As Maria Sharapova marches to her tennis match, she passes people who sing I Feel Pretty. She slams a ball cross to court, putting an end to the singing.
Advertising Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland
Year: 2007
Gold Lion
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13 – BASF – Dear John
The ad, set in army camp, features a soldier receiving a letter which goes to the tune of “Dear John”, the country song written by Lewis Talley, Fuzzy Owen and Billy Barton and made popular by Jean Shepard during the Korean war. As the song finishes the sergeant adapts the classic line from Humphrey Bogart, “Play it again John”.
Advertising Agency: Colenso BBDO, NZ
Year: 1982
Gold Lion
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14 – REXONA – Sensitive Armpits
A tough lumberjack is chopping down a tree. As he rearranges his cap, we notice at the same time he does that his underarm begins to song a sweet song. The corny melody is really annoying him. At this point, we see different cliché images of rough and tough men all undergoing the same situation. Finally, one of them applies the New Rexona Men Sensitive and succeeds in shutting up the underarm voice. A male voice in off says: New Rexona Men Sensitive. Even the most insensitive guy can have sensitive underarms.
Advertising Agency: Ponce Buenos Aires
Year: 2011
Silver Lion
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15 – STARBUCKS – Glen
Glen jumpstarts his day by drinking a Starbucks DoubleShot. As he opens the can, Survivor appears in his apartment. They follow Glen through his full morning routine, singing a personalized version of “Eye of the Tiger.”
Advertising Agency: Fallon, New York
Year: 2004
Shortlist
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16 – GOOGLE – Demo Slam: Realtime Karaoke
Google is more than just a search bar. However, most of us don’t use, let alone, are aware of its many features. We needed to find a way to share all this free technology with the world. To educate everyone about all of Google’s innovations; we decided to change the way people learnt about it. We got precisely the people who didn’t use this free tech, to explain to the others why they should. Because, only they would be able to explain it in a way that would be fun to watch, and understood by all. By bringing in just a little bit of courage, creativity and fun; each of them pushed the role of technology in our lives and inspired the rest to use it in ways never imagined before.
Transforming something few were aware of to something the whole world cared about; we were able to re-define the role of technology in everyone’s life. From celebrities, scientists, soccer moms, teens to even sports personalities; everyone came forward to find new ways in which technology could make their world a little better.
Advertising Agency: Johannes Leonardo, NY
Year: 2011
Gold Lion for the Campaign
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17 – DISCOVERY CHANNEL – I Love the World
We developed a new brand idea for Discovery Channel: Discovery is the
World’s Biggest Fan of the World. We wanted to celebrate all that is epic, beautiful, inspiring, fun and just plain crazy in the world. Fellow fans—from spacewalking Astronauts to Alaskan fishermen to Zulu warriors to Stephen Hawking to Discovery hosts like Mike Rowe and Bear Grylls—sing along to an old campfire song re-written to express how each of them loves the world. In other words, to tell people why Discovery Channel thinks “The World is Just Awesome.”
Advertising Agency: 72ndSunny, USA
Year: 2008
Shortlist
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18 – MATCH.COM – Piano
This is a film for the online dating service, Match.com, which features a couple finding each other as they examine musical instruments. He strums a guitar and she plays a keyboard. Together they make beautiful music, and it’s clearly the start of something special.
Advertising Agency: Mother, London
Year: 2010
Gold Lion
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19 – WILKINSON – Mow the Lawn
Girls in a front yard sing about mowing the lawn in order to promote Wilkinson/Schick Quattro razors for women.
Advertising Agency: JWT, New York
Year: 2009
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20 – AMERICAN LEGACY FOUNDATION/TRUTH – Singing Cowboy
We saddled up a horse, found a modern day cowboy that happened to have a hole in his neck due to a tobacco-related laryngectomy, and sent him to Manhattan to sing.
Advertising Agency: Arnold/Crispin Porter + Bogusky, USA
Year: 2007
Bronze Lion
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21 – ARNET BROABAND – Numa Numa
The ad shows some of the funny stuff you can find on the Internet.
Advertising Agency: Santo, Buenos Aires
Year: 2007
Shortlist
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22 – EVIAN – Voices
A man in a lift, a jogger, a secretary by the photocopier, a man in his car, an elderly lady…in all these scenes from everyday life, we see people singing with their childish voices.
Advertising Agency: BETC Euro RSCG, Paris
Year: 2003
Shortlist
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23 – NIKE WOMEN – Surgery
A group of women run away from a plastic surgery clinic dancing a choreography to a reggaetón tune.
Advertising Agency: Madre, Buenos Aires
Year: 2007
Bronze Lion
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24 – DIESEL – Anthem
Sing-a -ong Diesel Island national anthem. Why is your country fucked up?
Advertising Agency: Santo, Buenos Aires
Year: 2011
Silver Lion for the Campaign
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25 – PROCTER & GAMBLE – You’ll Never Walk Alone
This 60-second commercial shows a lifetime of moms by their children’s sides doing the daily, sometimes mundane, things that help their children grow up to be Olympians. All the while, they sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel. The ad builds from a child’s birth and culminates with the Olympics and a proud mom seeing all her hard work pay off. We then cut to a card that says, “Thank you, Mom,” followed by a series of product brand images that ends on the P&G logo with the voice-over, “P&G. Proud sponsor of Moms.”
Advertising Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland
Year: 2010
Bronze Lion for the Campaign
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26 – BURGER KING – Americas Favorite/More Mayo/More Cheese
Introducing the Whopperettes.
The Whopperettes return with a story about extra cheese.
The Whopperettes return with a story about mayo.
Advertising Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Year: 2006
Silver Lion for the Campaign
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27 – CADBURY DAIRY MILK – Night Runner
Fallon and Cadbury keep Great Britain pumped for the Olympics with a new spot that re-creates “The Final Countdown” — but adds multiple voices singing from the towers and buildings while a runner makes his way, presumably, to the Olympic Gold. An accompanying interactive feature encourages Britons to upload videos of them singing similarly inspirational songs to help team GB to victory.
Advertising Agency: Fallon London
Year: 2012
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28 – LOTTO LOTTERY – Ballroom Blitz
A taxi driver refuses to let passengers into his cab. Instead, he walks over to the queue and starts to sing for them. The man who joins in is chosen as the lucky passenger.
Advertising Agency: New Deal DDB, Norway
Year: 2001
Bronze Lion
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29 – CADBURY DAIRY MILK – Simply the Best
Part of Cadbury’s “Keep Team GB Pumped” campaign for London 2012 Olympics, swimmer Rebecca Adlington is serenaded by royal guards, dinner ladies and butchers with Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best.”
Advertising Agency: Hypernaked, London
Year: 2012
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30 – AMP ENERGY DRINK – Walk of no Shame
AMP wanted to introduce three new products with specific energy functions, designed to help our target, people who live their lives to the fullest. We also needed to increase brand awareness and embed ourselves into their daily life. We wanted to be the most relevant, unlike our hyper-masculine energy competitors. “Walk of No Shame” was an ode to the infamous walk that young people take “the night after” going out. With the look and sound of a mini-musical, AMP showed how one can take a “walk of no shame” as it gets you back on your feet.
Advertising Agency: BBDO New York
Year: 2009
Shortlist
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31 – LABATT BLUE BEER – Big Song
A young man tries to make up to his girlfriend by singing her a song around a campfire – “Out of the Blue”, and it turns into a huge sing-a-long.
Advertising Agency: Ammirati Puris, Canada
Year: 2001
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32 – PEPSI – Pepsi Generation
Advertising Agency: BBDO, USA
Year: 1984
Coke Zero – Make It Possible Project
Posted: June 1, 2012 Filed under: Best Use of Television, Beverages, Case History, Coca-Cola, Digital, Event, France, TV/Film, Viral | Tags: a step from Zero, Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, dance, Digital, Joey “Knucklehead” Turman, Jon M. Chu, Jonathan Mildenhall, Keemo, Make it possible project, Nima Nourizadeh, Ogilvy, Toe Tappy, TV/Film, Viral Leave a comment » “I view every single member of our community as a marketing director for the Coke Zero brand,” Jonathan Mildenhall, VP of Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence at Coca-Cola
Coke Zero is out to create an international dance craze–and remake its marketing process– via the Make It Possible Project, a campaign that came together organically over the course of several months with input from Coke fans around the world.
Eschewing the traditional advertising model, the brand instead used its Makeitpossibleproject.com storytelling platform to experiment with content creation relying on public participation: “Consumers can see through these marketing platforms, so why not genuinely bring them into the process so they’re part of the marketing community?” says Jonathan Mildenhall, VP of Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence at Coca-Cola, stressing, “I view every single [member] of our community as a marketing director for the Coke Zero brand.”
This worldwide network of marketing directors got to work late last summer on a campaign orchestrated by Coke agency Ogilvy Paris. The project kicked off when director Jon M. Chu, creator of The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers web series, went online at Coke Zero’s behest to announce that the soft drink was on the lookout for a hot new original dance (Mildenhall was actually inspired to make dance the central theme of the project after a chance meeting with Chu at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last year).
Choreographers and dancers of all experience levels were invited to upload videos to MakeItPossibleProject.com showing off their best moves, and as the submissions came in from around the world, Chu as well as members of The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers provided encouragement through video messages. Meanwhile, the Make It Possible Project community liked, shared, and debated the merits of the dances. In the end, it was the Toe Tappy, a side-to-side toe-tapping dance created by American street dancer Joey “Knucklehead” Turman that won Coke Zero’s interest.
Convinced that the Toe Tappy had the potential to catch on, Coke Zero then initiated a casting call, reaching out to its online community in search of a performer who could bring the dance to life as the star of a global ad campaign. Again, anyone could apply. “At every stage of the creative development process, we were helping members of our target audience realize their ‘what’s possible,’” Mildenhall says, noting that a group of finalists from the community were flown to Los Angeles, where they were photographed for an out-of-home campaign–think everything from posters to in-store displays–and provided with behind-the-scenes video to share through their social networks.
Keemo, an actor and dancer from France, ultimately became the face of the campaign, winning the lead role in “A Step from Zero,” a web film that broke today on Coke Zero’s YouTube channel Directed by Nima Nourizadeh out of production company Partizan in Buenos Aires (Coke also worked with Stink Digital for interactive components and Opus 88 on out of home) and featuring a track titled “I’m All In” by up-and-coming rapper Metis, the film casts Keemo playing a young man whose family doesn’t support his ambition of becoming a professional dancer. He eventually wins their approval after he creates a dance–the Toe Tappy–that spreads all over the world thanks to the Internet. (The web film was also cut into 60- and 30-second commercials.)
The narrative is loosely based on Knucklehead’s personal story, which is shared in more detail on the Make It Possible Project site through a short documentary-style film. It provides a raw portrait of a young man who survives a rough childhood and makes his way to a better life through dance. Knucklehead, who, incidentally, competed on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew with Street Kingdom, is also featured on the site in a series of videos that show him traveling the world, from Japan to New Zealand, teaching people the Toe Tappy, and he also got people buzzing about his dance via social media.
The young influencers who make up the Make It Possible Project community have shown great interest in the aforementioned content. In fact, according to data culled from the site, visitors spent an average of six minutes on MakeItPossibleProject.com during the content creation portion of the campaign, with peaks running as high as nine minutes.
Given the success of the endeavor in terms of engagement, Coke Zero is now looking to take consumers on additional creative journeys via the Make It Possible Project, giving them an opportunity to pursue their own passions and play a role in shaping and sharing the marketing messages aimed at them. “You can rest assured that the next tale of possibility will have a ringleader like Jon Chu, we’ll activate the community, we’ll source authenticity from a community of believers as we go through the process, and hopefully, we’ll realize the dreams of several people,” Mildenhall says.
The approach confirms Coca-Cola’s commitment to its content 2020 manifesto which outlined a long-term, company-wide marketing plan that is less reliant on traditional advertising and more invested in generating content that can flow through any medium while reinforcing the company’s business objectives.
“For Coke Zero, I never want to go back to a traditional hidden creative development process,” Mildenhall says. “I always want to engage with the community in helping us find the talent and find the stories and find the creative elements. It’s just so much more rewarding.”
Behind the Scene
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy Paris
Year: 2012
Coca-Cola/Copa America 2011 – Cheer-o-Meter
Posted: April 23, 2012 Filed under: Ambient, Argentina, Beverages, Case History, Coca-Cola, Event, Installation | Tags: alentometro, Ambient, Argentina, Cheer o meter, Coca-Cola, Copa America, Javier Mentasti, Maximiliano Maddalena, Ogilvy, Rodrigo Isaia, Silvio Panizza Leave a comment »
This new initiative of Coca Cola -developed by Ogilvy Action- was launched during an event where over 500 people enjoyed the match Argentina vs. Colombia, all non-stop encouraging in order to keep watching the TV screen on.
With the unconditional support as the main feature of Argentine fans, created the first giant screen that works only with people’s breath for the parties of the national team. As the public speech during the meeting, a “Cheer-o-meter” connected to a giant screen, reflects the intensity of breath and regulates the visibility of the screen that broadcasts the game live. Thus, the more encouraged the fans, the more visibility you have and the less encouraging, the screen begins to fade.
The action was developed from the concept of “Always refresh your breath,” the message that the brand is pursuing various initiatives to be present along with the fans and encourage the selection.
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy, Buenos Aires
General Creative Directors: Javier Mentasti, Maximiliano Maddalena, Silvio Panizza
Creative Directors: Rodrigo Isaia – Alejandro Garone
Production Company: Awards Cine
Director: Matías Goldberg
Year: 2012
Share a Coke Campaign – A Coca-Cola with your name on it
Posted: February 21, 2012 Filed under: Australia, Beverages, Case History, Coca-Cola, Design, Digital, Press/Outdoor, Promotion, Viral | Tags: Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola with your name on it, coke, Digital, Facebook, Lucie Austin, Ogilvy & Mather Sydney, Promotion, share, Share a Coke, sharing a Coke together, Viral 8 Comments »
Coca-Cola is putting Aussies front and centre by printing people’s names on millions of bottles (for the first time ever) as a social invitation to find the names of friends and family and encourage them to connect and ‘Share a Coke’ together.
The launch of the new multi-million dollar summer campaign, Share a Coke, will see the country’s 150 most popular names appear on labels this summer, encouraging them to ‘Share a Coke’ with one another.
This is the first time Coca-Cola has made such a major change to its packaging and the first time any brand in Australia has launched this type of campaign. Share a Coke with Matt, Josh, Luke, Rebecca, Nicole, Kate messaging was designed to encourage Aussies to connect with each other this summer. All the executions of the fully integrated ‘Share a Coke’ marketing campaign act as an invitation for consumers to share a bottle or can of Coke with someone they know, or want to know.
Says Lucie Austin, marketing director, Coca-Cola South Pacific: “We are using the power of the first name in a playful and social way to remind people of those in their lives they may have lost touch with or have yet to connect with. We’ve put names on Coca-Cola bottles so consumers will have fun finding their friends and family members’ names and then enjoy sharing a Coke together.”
Coca-Cola Australia is betting on a viral hit for ‘Share a Coke’ via social media. Facebook fans can create their own Coke commercials with pictures from their Facebook albums, share a virtual Coke, and be eligible to win $50,000 to share with their friends. TV screens will be blanketed with 30-second ads promoting the campaign and inviting people to create and share their own Coke commercials on YouTube and Facebook.
“We are using the power of the first name in a playful and social way to remind people of those in their lives they may have lost touch with or have yet to connect with,” said Austin.
Consumers are able to download one of 150 ‘name songs’, produced in partnership with Southern Cross Austereo via the Coca-Cola Australia Facebook page. And come December, the campaign will flip over to “share a Coke with Santa,” with cans rolling out featuring “Rudolph” and other reindeer names. It’s all part of the brand’s Open Happiness campaign, as Coke looks to deliver happiness and a unique brand experience … one personalized can at a time.
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Sydney
Digital Agency: Wunderman
PR: One Green Bean
Channel Planning: Naked Communications
Media: IKON Communications
Activation: Urban Communication
Year: 2010
Coca-Cola – I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke (the story of Hilltop)
Posted: December 15, 2011 Filed under: Case History, Coca-Cola, Legendary, TV/Film, USA | Tags: Bill Backer, Coca-Cola, coke, Hilltop, I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke, It's a real thing, McCann erickson, the story of Hilltop 3 Comments »
In 1969, The Coca-Cola Company and its advertising agency, McCann-Erickson, ended their popular “Things Go Better With Coke” campaign, replacing it with a campaign that centered on the slogan “It’s the Real Thing.” Beginning with a hit song, the new campaign featured what proved to be one of the most popular ads ever created.
The story behind the song
The song “I’d Like to Buy The World a Coke” had its origins on January 18, 1971, in a fog. Bill Backer, the creative director on the Coca-Cola account for McCann-Erickson, was traveling to London to join two other songwriters, Billy Davis and Roger Cook, to write and arrange several radio commercials for The Coca-Cola Company that would be recorded by the popular singing group the New Seekers. As the plane approached Great Britain, heavy fog at London’s Heathrow Airport forced it to land instead at Shannon Airport, Ireland. The irate passengers were obliged to share rooms at the one hotel available in Shannon or to sleep at the airport. Tensions and tempers ran high.
The next morning, as the passengers gathered in the airport coffee shop awaiting clearance to fly, Backer noticed that several who had been among the most irate were now laughing and sharing stories over bottles of Coke. As Backer himself recalled in his book The Care and Feeding of Ideas:
In that moment . . . began to see a bottle of Coca-Cola as more than a drink. . . . began to see the familiar words, “Let’s have a Coke,” as . . . actually a subtle way of saying, “Let’s keep each other company for a little while.” And knew they were being said all over the world as sat there in Ireland. So that was the basic idea: to see Coke not as it was originally designed to be—a liquid refresher—but as a tiny bit of commonality between all peoples, a universally liked formula that would help to keep them company for a few minutes.
Backer’s flight never did reach London. Heathrow Airport was still fogged in, so the passengers were redirected to Liverpool and bussed to London, arriving around midnight. At his hotel, Backer immediately met with Billy Davis and Roger Cook, finding that they had completed one song and were working on a second as they prepared to meet the New Seekers’ musical arranger the next day. Backer told them he thought they should work through the night on an idea he had had: “I could see and hear a song that treated the whole world as if it were a person—a person the singer would like to help and get to know. I’m not sure how the lyric should start, but I know the last line.” With that he pulled out the paper napkin on which he had scribbled the line, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.”
The three members of the writing team that night each brought a different perspective to their task. Billy Davis, of McCann-Erickson, had toured as a member of the singing group the Four Tops and had written several songs for the powerful and popular Motown music production organization. Roger Cook, a native of Bristol, England, had teamed with Roger Greenaway to write several 1960s pop standards including “You’ve Got Your Troubles” and “Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress).” Bill Backer was from Charleston, South Carolina, and had written the jingle “Things Go Better with Coke” as well as the jingle for “The Real Thing” campaign.
Appropriately, then, each contributed something different to the song they wrote together that night. Davis provided the core idea for the opening line, that everyone needs a home. Backer gave it the same pattern as the line he’d written, so that it became “I’d like to build the world a home.” And perhaps because this was, after all, the late 1960s, the three decided that the home should be furnished “with love.” Cook might have drawn on British folksong imagery when he contributed the line “Grow apple trees and honey bees, and snow white turtle doves,” which Backer and Davis at first thought too grand but eventually accepted for its poetic quality. Next, Backer penned a variation of the opening line: “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.” Coming full circle, the last line expressed the song’s original idea: “I’d like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.”
The melody was based on a Roger Cook-Roger Greenaway song that Cook and Davis reworked to incorporate the melody used for the campaign slogan “It’s the Real Thing.” This allowed them to weave the updated slogan “It’s the real thing, Coke is what the world wants today” into the new song’s harmonizing voice parts. This was the result:
I’d like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love,
Grow apple trees and honey bees, and snow white turtle doves.
I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony,
I’d like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.
It’s the real thing, Coke is what the world wants today.
The next day, Backer, Cook, and Davis presented the lyrics and melody they had created during their all-night brainstorming session to David Mackay, the arranger for the New Seekers, with instructions to make his arrangement warm and appealing but not too cute. It was immediately decided that the ad should begin with New Seekers vocalist Eve Graham in order to have a woman initiate the message. And after trying out several versions in which the New Seekers attempted to sing the song as a typical advertising jingle, Backer and Davis convinced them to relax and use their own folk/pop style instead. Several weeks later, on February 12, 1971, “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” was shipped to radio stations throughout the United States.
It promptly flopped. The Coca-Cola bottlers hated the ad and most refused to buy airtime for it. The few times the ad was played, the public paid no attention. Bill Backer’s idea that Coke connected people appeared to be dead.
Backer persuaded McCann to convince Coca-Cola executives that the ad was still viable but needed a visual dimension. His approach succeeded: the company eventually approved more than $250,000 for filming, at the time one of the largest budgets ever devoted to a television commercial. Backer then spent weeks canvassing the McCann creative staff for ideas, until Harvey Gabor, a young art director, proposed that the song be treated for television as a “First United Chorus of the World.” He envisioned a group of young people from all nations, in clothing representing their nationalities, singing the song on a green hillside. Gabor’s idea prevailed, and McCann prepared to shoot the commercial.
Producing the ad, however, proved to be one of the most challenging projects in the agency’s history. What kept the project alive was belief in the strength of the ad’s basic message, that Coca-Cola is a bond connecting people to one another.
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The Shooting
Because London had been the song’s starting point, the ad’s creators decided that the “green hill” of its setting should be the storied cliffs of Dover on England’s southern coast. By March, 1971, a McCann production crew including Billy Davis, Harvey Gabor, and agency producer Phil Messina traveled with photographer/director Haskell Wexler to England to begin work. The chorus, they decided, would consist of several thousand British school children and would feature sixty-five principals who would be seen at close range. The children were cast and rehearsed “lip synching” moving their lips silently as though they were singing—to the New Seekers rendition of the song. Filming was set to begin on April 8, but three days of continuous rain, with more forecast, forced postponements. The McCann staff decided to move the shoot to Rome, which promised a more favorable climate.
In Italy, the producers had to cast a new group of children by searching schools and youth hostels. One English singer, the “head girl,” was brought to Italy to reprise her role. Production was to begin at 7:30 on the appointed morning with close-up shots of the sixty-five new principal singers in the flattering morning light. Unfortunately, it rained that morning for the first time in weeks. When the rain cleared in the afternoon, the leads were filmed singing the song while the “extra” children waited. Finally, late in the day, some twelve hundred children were spaced out on the top of the hill for the climactic shot from a helicopter. With light fading after only a few takes, the children broke ranks and began running down the hill to get more Coke from the truck carrying the props.
When the film was developed there were some unpleasant surprises. The zoom lens used for the close shots was faulty: every frame was out of focus. Additionally, the light levels on the helicopter shots were too low. The lead female singer then informed the crew that she had just been married and was going on her honeymoon and would be unavailable for any additional filming. McCann had now used its entire budget waiting for the rain to end in England and generating unusable footage in Rome.
To keep the ad alive, the McCann production crew went back to the drawing board. They cut the number of children in the youth chorus from twelve hundred to five hundred and began the search for a new female lead. They filled the ranks of the chorus by contacting the foreign embassies in Rome and drawing from their residents. As principals, they selected some forty young people between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. And when they spotted Linda Neary, a British governess living in Rome, walking down the street pushing a baby carriage, they decided she looked perfect for the part of the female lead. Two days before shooting was scheduled to begin, Neary agreed to take the part and the cast was set.
A new local film company, Roma Films, was contracted to film the commercial. Billy Davis rehearsed the young people lip synching to the New Seekers’ recording, and filming began on a different hillside the following day. Roma Films changed the strategy that had been used for the earlier shooting, filming the larger group shots first as Davis conducted the chorus. The aerial views showing the entire group from the vantage point of a helicopter were filmed next, while the tight close-ups were actually filmed at a racetrack near Rome.
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The Commercial
The television ad “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” was released first in Europe, where it garnered only a tepid response. It was then released in the U.S. in July, 1971, and the response was immediate and dramatic. By November of that year, Coca-Cola and its bottlers had received more than a hundred thousand letters about the ad. At that time the demand for the song was so great that many people were calling radio stations and asking them to play the commercial. Clearly, “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” had struck a chord deeper than the normal response to the advertisement of a commercial product, and Billy Davis asked Bill Backer to rewrite the lyrics without the references to Coke.
Because the New Seekers were initially unavailable to record the new version, a group calling itself the Hillside Singers recorded it with a country-and-western flavor and released it as a single. When the New Seekers began an American tour several weeks latter, they re-recorded the new lyrics and released a second single. Both version sold well in fact, at one point, the New Seekers version was listed among the top ten songs on the American pop music charts while the Hillside Singers version was number thirteen. Such successes were repeated around the world as the ad’s popularity expanded. Recordings of the song and versions of the sheet music appeared in a variety of languages to fill an ever-increasing demand.
“I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” has had a lasting connection with the viewing public. Advertising surveys consistently identify it as one of the best commercials of all time, and the sheet music continues to sell more than thirty years after the song was written. Such is the power of television advertising that through the enduring popularity of this ad, at least, Coke has borne out something of Backer’s ambitious claims for it, becoming a common connection among people.
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Behind the scenes
- Hilltop” is the first historical ad ever to be restored in High Definition (HD). It can still be viewed by the public as it was donated to the Library of Congress in Washington DC in 2000.
- The international cast included actors from more than 20 countries.
- The opening scene was shot at a horse racetrack outside of Rome forcing unusual camera angles during the opening scene as the director tried to avoid having telephone wires in the background of the shots; the rest of the commercial was shot on the hilltop.
- Within 10 days of the U.S. release of “Hilltop,” The Coca-Cola Company received 10,000 letters from consumers thanking the Company for the message in the ad. Consumers also called television stations asking when the commercial was scheduled to air.
- The song “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” was written in less than 24 hours.
- The cast did not actualy sing “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke,” but rather lip-synced to a New Seekers recording
Interview with Bill Backer
Interview conducted with Bill Backer about his role in creating the famous Coca-Cola ad, “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke.” Backer co-composed the ad with Billy Davis, Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook in January 1971. Backer was the creative director for McCann Erickson when the ad was made. The Coca-Cola Archives interviewed Backer in 2007.
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The Hilltop Reunion
In 1990, a follow-up to this commercial, called “Hilltop Reunion”, aired during coverage of Super Bowl XXIV. It featured the original singers (now adults) and their children, and culminated in a medley of this song and the then-current “Can’t Beat the Real Thing” jingle.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup
In 2010, Coca-Cola once again used the song in a television commercial featuring the entire line of its sponsored NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers. The commercial included the drivers singing the song while driving in a race. The following year, information on how many dollars it would take “to buy the world a Coke” was given in a commercial featuring the red silhouette of a Coke bottle and the melody of the song.
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Cover
British band Oasis were sued after their recording “Shakermaker” borrowed its melody and some lyrics directly; they were forced to change their composition. Oasis tribute band NoWaySis released a cover of “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing”, entering the British charts at No.27 in 1996.
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In 2007, Campaign magazine called it “one of the best-loved and most influential ads in TV history” It served as a milestone—the first instance of the recording industry’s involvement with advertising.Marketing analysts have noted Coca-Cola’s strategy of marrying the idea of happiness and universal love of the product illustrated by the song.
Advertising Agency: McCann-Erickson, USA
Creative Director: Bill Backer
Art Director: Harvey Gabor
Director: Roberto Malenotti
Agency Producer: Phil Messina
Music: Billy Davis, Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Bill Backer
