Just before Super Bowl LIII this Sunday, Coca-Cola will once again remind us that all sorts of people enjoy Coke, even if they are very different from each other.

“The Big Game is such a great opportunity for America to come together, and for us to articulate what Coca-Cola is all about,” said Jennifer Healan, group director, integrated marketing content, Coca-Cola North America, in a statement. “We’re excited to share ‘A Coke is a Coke’, which brings to life the optimism, diversity and inclusion our brand stands for in a unique way.”

The “A Coke Is A Coke” spot, which was animated in Coke’s brand palette by Psyop, was inspired by a passage from pop-art icon Andy Warhol’s 1975 book, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol:

“What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same thing as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and, just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke, and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it and you know it,” Warhol wrote.

As part of the campaign, Coke drinkers are encouraged to post and tag selfies of themselves enjoying a Coke while celebrating what makes them both different and beautiful. Select images will be recreated using a similar illustrative style as the characters in “A Coke is a Coke” and featured in a mural on Coca-Cola’s Instagram channel the night of the Big Game, according to a post on the brand’s website. The brand also will respond to followers on Twitter with messages from “A Coke is a Coke” characters.

Coca-Cola has previously turned to the Super Bowl to air spots celebrating unity. In 2014 and 2018, the brand aired spots “It’s Beautiful” and “The Wonder of Us” during the big game.

“The timeless message of the spot is especially relevant today given what’s happening in society, and we hope it will resonate with viewers as they come together as a country to sing our national anthem,” said Brynn Bardacke, vice president, content and creative excellence, Coca-Cola North America, also in a statement. “These values have been a constant for the Coca-Cola brand because they’re enduring. And not only have we celebrated these values… Coca-Cola is a brand and business that demonstrates them through action.”

Case in point, The Coca-Cola Foundation announced a $1 million grant to allow free admission to Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights from Jan. 28 through the end of February (Black History Month).

Coca-Cola, which has been in the brand citizenship game since 1971 when it wanted to teach the world to sing, is the latest advertiser to join the fray of marketers who aren’t just showcasing a product but are also delivering a message.

For example, Verizon is honoring first responders with a campaign directed by Peter Berg, including a 30-minute documentary that will debut at Verizon’s Super Bowl Live activation in Atlanta on January 31. Gillette recently released an ad taking on toxic masculinity that stirred up some controversy after some viewers thought it relied too much on male stereotypes. And Nike made waves with an ad featuring former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was the first NFL player to kneel during the National Anthem in protest of police brutality and in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

“Once ads are perceived as crossing over into political territory, there is a large risk of alienating a substantial proportion of the target audience,” Charles Taylor, a professor of marketing at Villanova School of Business, told Variety.

READ MORE: Stash

CREDITS

Client: Coca-Cola

Agency: Wieden+Kennedy

Animator: Psyop

Directors: Kylie Matulick, Trevor Conrad, Todd Mueller

Managing Director: Neysa Horsburgh

Head of Business Development: Justin Booth-Clibborn

Executive Producers: Amanda Miller, Shannon Alexander, Christine Schneider

Head of Production: Drew Bourneuf

Producers: Lucy Clark, Nick Read, Brian Butcher

Associate Producer: Amy Martz, Jonathan Howard

Visual Development Artists: Tuna Bora, Paul Cayrol, Claire Kang, Denny Khurniawan, Paul
Kim, Pete McDonald

Designers: Joe Ball, Gino Belassen, James Lee

2D Animators: Tarun Lakshminarayanan, Taik Lee

2D Supervisor: Ryan Raith

2D Compositors: Sarah Blank, Raphael LaMotta, Lamson To, Anthony Medina, Tommy Wooh

Storyboard Artist: Max Forward

Flame Artists: Adam Flynn, Kim Stevenson

Flame Assist: Sam Shiflett

Editors: Lee Gardner, Joe Hughes, Volkert Besseling

For Sun Creature

Executive Producers: Guillaume Dousse, Charlotte De La Gournerie

Line Producer: Charlotte Sanchez

Art Director: Guillaume Dousse

Lead Design and Visual Development: Cyrille Chauvin

Visual Development Artists: Kajika Aki, Caroline Lefèvre, Leïla Courtillon, Marine Duchet, Pierre de Menezes, Gaspard Sumeire

Designers: Pierre de Menezes, Gaspard Sumeire, Jess Nicholls

Animation Supervisor: Liane-Cho Han

2D Animators: Charles Badiller, Nawell Sdiri, Cyrille Chauvin, Mylène Cominotti, Christoffer Elsborg Kramme, Jonathan Djob Nkondo, Pierre Rütz, Kenneth Ladekjær, Vic Chhun, Thibaud
Petitpas, Thierry Torres Rubio, Mourad Seddiki, Bung Nguyen, Slaven Reese, Eve Guastella, Marick Queven, Antoine Tran, Andrzej Radka, Clara Baidel, Hanne Galvez, Laura Büchert
Schjødt, Louise Bergholt Sørensen, Mette Ilene Holmriis, Alain Vu, Christian Kuntz

2D Compositors: Anthony Lejeune, Jess Nicholls

Editor: Bo Juhl Nielsen

Used with permission from The Andy Warhol Foundation.

Tags: brand citizenship coca-cola coke psyop sun creature weiden+kennedy


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