Advertising: Coca-Cola’s humour strikes a positive tone

Author: CIMCOM

Drinks brand, Coca-Cola has begun rolling out its latest advertisements within its ‘Taste the Feeling’ campaign. The approach sees the continuation of its ‘One brand’ strategy, which promotes the Coca-Cola master brand with a minimal reference to the Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Light, and Coca-Cola Life sub-brands. The ads are well-pitched to appeal to the brand’s audience and place the cola bottle, with its distinctive design at the centre of each execution. Humour and drama are used to drive up positive goodwill towards the brand.

This spot by Santo has been well-received by the LGBT community for gently poking fun at a whole family enraptured by the handsome man who’s come over to clean their pool. A sister and brother vie for the pool boy’s attention by racing to offer him a cola, only to find their mother has already beaten them to it.

It’s light-hearted and playful and while the pool boy is undoubtedly handsome, the product is the undisputed hero of the piece.

In this spot from Ogilvy & Mather Mexico City, we follow the characters as they experience special moments which warrant closing their eyes, from a first kiss to a rollercoaster ride and drinking a cola at a festival. This ad engenders more of a wry smile that a full-on chuckle, but it’s laced with everyday drama and feel-good cues.

This ad created by McCann Madrid sets the scene with a music producer in need of a hit and a busker in need of a break. But this one and a half minute drama-cum-advert is packed with suspense, especially if you’ve ever seen the film ‘Sliding Doors’. The ad looks set to keep the protagonists from ever meeting. Then the singer puts down her cola and the producer stops for a drink himself and hears her play. It might never have happened, but it did. That’s the kind of serendipity that raises a smile.

Also envisaged by McCann Madrid, this spot makes a broken-down elevator into a status leveller, when a star-struck hotel waitress and celebrity DJ are trapped inside the lift together. As the temperature rises they share a cold cola and then a smile, a dance and a laugh. When they’re finally rescued the waitress grabs a selfie with the star. So where’s the humour? The selfie snap shows the waitress and DJ together, except his face is completely obscured by his bottle of cola. Maybe it never happened!

Cola bottle centre stage

In each advertising execution, the Coca Cola bottle is the hero at the centre of the humour or drama. Research commissioned by Artexis Easyfairs, organisers of Packing Innovations and Luxury Packaging London, set out to find the most recognisable packaging in the UK. The online survey quizzed 1,500 Brits last July. Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands dominated the top 10, with the curving Coke bottle at the head of the pack.

Top 10 most recognisable brand’s packaging

• Coca-Cola bottle
• Toblerone triangle
• Marmite jar
• Pringles tube
• KFC bucket
• Heinz ketchup bottle
• Fairy liquid bottle
• Apple’s iPhone box
• Walkers crisp package
• Amazon box