Super Bowl 43: Coke Zero

Troy Polamalu stars in this ad, mocking the orignal 1979 football spot with Mean Joe Green.

A few days ago we were treated to a preview of this spot, which made it look like Coke would stick to its traditional roots and redesign the ad in a similar fashion. Instead, the "Hey Coke Zero is infringing upon Coke because it's exactly the same" campaign makes a lame reappearance. They should have just remade it properly instead of turning a classic into a shoddy parody.

Guru Grade: 4 / 10

Super Bowl 43: Coca-Cola Heist

This is the second ad that will air on Super Bowl Sunday. (Click here for the other.) I'm once again impressed with the animation. A slew of bugs and insects raid a picnic to plunder a Coke. Reminiscent of the happiness factory spots. It's just awesomely done... how can you knock it?

The name of the song is the composition "Peter and the Wolf" by Sergei Prokofiev, done by sound production company Stimmung.

Also, watch out for a remake of the 1979 football spot, where the kid gives Mean Joe Green a Coke and gets his jersey in return. Only the new one will be for Coke Zero and will star Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. (Here it is.)

Guru Grade: 8 / 10

Click to see the full credits
Credits:
Client: Coca-Cola
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland
Creative Director: Hal Curtis,
Sheena Brady
Art Director: James Moslander,
Lee Jennings
Copywriter: Marc D'Avignon
Senior Agency Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Production Company: Psyop
Director: Psyop
Creative Director (Psyop): Todd Mueller,
Kylie Matulick
Director of Photography: Stephen Blackman
Executive Producer (Psyop): Neysa Horsburgh
Live Action Producer: Michael Schlenker
VFX Supervisor/CG Lead Artist: Andrew Romatz
VFX Supervisor/Lead Flame Artist: Thibault Debaveye
2D Supervisor: Lane Jolly
Animation Lead: John Velazquez
Editor: Brett Nicoletti
VFX Producer: Tina Chiang
Fluid Simulation: Scanline VFX
Music/Sound Design: Stimmung
Mix: Lime Studios

Coca-Cola: Avatar Super Bowl Ad

This one will air during Super Bowl 43. It shows people's virtual characters as a young man walks through the city and sees people on their laptops, PDAs, handheld video game devices, and cell phones. Beautifully animated gremlins, zombies, space people, animals, robots, mythical creatures, super heroes, fairies, spies, and what appears to be an orc from World of Warcraft graze the screen in flawless color. Can somebody tell me where this fantasty land exists -- where one can walk into a shop, sit down, and order a glass bottle of Coke? Seems like a utopia...

This commercial further integrates Coke into our growing digital world. A couple years ago we saw a Grand Theft Auto styled ad from Coca-Cola, and this year they have stepped it up to include a numerous variety of possible avatars people use in their daily lives.

The name of the song is "Stranger in the Crowd" by Cee-Lo Green (of the group Gnarls Barkley.) It's a cover of an Elvis Presley song (1970).

I like this commercial. I think it will cheer people up! "Open happiness" is a double sided slogan, either meaning opening up a can/bottle of Coke, or just the feeling of joy flowing freely throughout the world. I also appreciated the "open" sign on the shop window. It's all planned to enforce their message... amazing!

Also, watch out for a remake of the 1979 football spot, where the kid gives Mean Joe Green a Coke and gets his jersey in return. Only the new one will be for Coke Zero and will star Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. (Here it is.)

Click here to watch Coke's other Super Bowl commercial.

Guru Grade: 8 / 10

Click to see the full credits
Credits:
Client: Coca-Cola
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland
Executive Creative Director: Mark Fitzloff,
Susan Hoffman
Creative Director: Hal Curtis,
Sheena Brady
Copywriter: Eric Samsel
Art Director: Ken Meyer
Agency Producer: Lindsay Reed
Agency Executive Producer: Ben Grylewicz
Production Company: Nexus Productions
Director: Smith & Foulkes
Director of Photography: Mattias Montero
Executive Producer: Chris O'Reilly,
Charlotte Bavasso
Head Of Production: Juila Parfitt
Producer: Melody Sylvester
Animation: Nexus Productions
Head of 3D Animation: Ben Cowell
Character Design: Mustashrik Mahbub
Storyboard: Adam Beer
Editorial Company: Speade
Editor: Art Jones
Post Production: Framestore
Managing Director: Helen Stanley
Online Producer: Kristy Cleminson
Creative Director (Framestore): Mike McGee
Senior Flame Artist: Will Barlett
Audio Post Production: 750MPH
Engineer: Gary Walker
Audio Post Producer: Syleste Molyneaux
Music: Solitaire Studios
Executive Producer (Music): Monica Tannian
Music Producer: Graham Marsh
Composer: Cee-Lo Green
Sound Design: Stimmung
Sound Designer: Gus Koven
Producer (Stimmung): Jack Catlin,
Kelly Fuller
Animatics: Joint Editorial
Animatics Editor: David Jahns
Executive Producer (Joint): Patty Brebner

Super Bowl 43 Commercials Preview

UPDATE: Click here for live Super Bowl 43 commercials coverage!

The Super Bowl is an extremely momentous occasion. It's the ultimate finale for the National Football League championship. Every year, a record amount of viewers tune in to see the two teams face off. Super Bowl Sunday has become a ritual for many Americans, providing a chance to show off new big screen TV's, take a gamble with the office pool, pig out (Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest U.S. food consumption day), and watch outrageous things happen during the halftime show. But there's one more aspect of the Super Bowl that attracts a great deal of attention-- the commercials, of course! It's the most important advertising day of the year. So to prepare you for the upcoming onslaught of high-profile ads, I have made a list of some things you should know and other stuff that you can expect.

• Date: February 1, 2009
• Location: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida
• Who's Playing: Pittsburgh Steelers at Arizona Cardinals
  
• Network: NBC
• Halftime Performance: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
  
• Cost of a 30-second ad: $3 million

That's right, $3,000,000. Nothing compared to the bailout but c'mon... that's $100,000 a second! The links below lead to pre-released Super Bowl commercials. Be sure to check them out.

• There will be an ad competition between Monster Worldwide (who have not aired a Super Bowl commercial for four years) and careerbuilder.com
• Five minutes of Anheuser-Busch. Budweiser, Bud Light, maybe even Bud Light Lime.
• Coke... (Coke 2) although Pepsi paid a premium to keep them out of the first half.
• Pedigree dog food will air their first ad ever in the Super Bowl.
• Bridgestone will sponsor the halftime show and will run two 30-second ads.
• Cash4Gold, unfortunately, bought a last second slot from NBC
  
• Cars.com has a 60-second ad in the second quarter.
• Doritos will have at least one 30-second ad.
• The E*Trade baby makes a comeback!
• Denny's has two spots
  
• GE, owner of NBC, will run a spot.
• GoDaddy: at least one 30-second ad.
• Hyundai will present two commercials for their Genesis Coupe.
• Castrol Motor oil
• Teleflora flower delivery
  
• The NFL will air one 60-second spot during halftime.
• PepsiCo Beverages are sure to make an appearance with their new branding.
• Audi has a 60-second ad inspired by classic Hollywood chase scenes
  
• Movie trailers: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek, Monsters vs. Aliens, and 2012
• Heineken
• SoBe
  
• PETA (not)
  

Last year's slew of ads were quite disappointing. Let's hope Super Bowl XLIII has some better prospects.

For a minute-by-minute update of the Super Bowl commercials, be sure to stop by here. I'll be updating live for the first time. So be sure to visit the TV Ad Guru and voice your opinion on the biggest ads of the year!

Microsoft's People Ready Campaign

With the tagline "Because it's everybody's business," Microsoft aims to share their business solutions and insights with the world. The video above appears to be a phone interview with Quiksilver's President and CEO Bob McKnight. He's a slang-talkin' surfer dude who benefits from Microsoft's business options. I like the style of these ads because they're very random and stylish. The paper cutout appearance is a fresh vision from Microsoft, whose less-than-spectacular ads from last year failed to impress.



This one features Katie Bayne, Chief Marketing Officer of Coca-Cola (North America.) Another commercial has surfaced, documenting a phone call between the unknown speaker and Bayne, watch it here.



Here we have the co-founder and chief brand architect of Method, Eric Ryan.

The people responsible for the ads are a graphics company called Imaginary Forces. They have offices in Hollywood and New York, and they also had a hand in the 2009 Pepsi Wordplay commercial. Click here to see some of their featured work.

For more information you might want to check out microsoft.com/peopleready

Guru Grade: 7.5 / 10

Quantum of Solace Coke Zero Trailer

Click here to watch

The 22nd James Bond movie comes out on November 14 here in the states, and I'm super excited. I thought Daniel Craig did an excellent job in Casino Royale, this upcoming film's prequel.

This commercial displays all the great things about 007: cars, girls, excitement, and action. It looks like they took the footage and drowned it in Coke style. The smooth curves of reds and blacks exude Coca Cola. If you happen to notice anything around you, you might find that I am quite fond of these color combinations.

I guess Coke Zero is revitalizing their brand with this new campaign. I also saw them on my college campus just handing Coke Zero's out for free. Sounds good to me. I mean, who doesn't appreciate the simple joy that is a free bottle of Coke? It's a rare gift that transcends the boundaries of fiscal and monetary needs, and proceeds to fulfill the basic human emotions of compassion and happiness...

Channel Surfing: Olympic Sponsorships In Question

A recent study called "The Commercial Games" conducted by Commercial Alert and Multinational Monitor (two companies that keep tabs on big corporations) has argued that the International Olympic Committee should drop sponsors whose products include fast food, soda, and alcohol. The groups think that these products do not jive with the Olympics' overall message of celebrating healthy living.

Obviously the main companies under attack are Coca Cola, McDonald's, and Anheuser Busch. Although these companies wouldn't go out of business without Olympic sponsorships, these global brands would be at a significant disadvantage in terms of missing an opportunity to reach a global audience.

Are these types of endorsements really harmfully associated with the Olympic games? Sure, plenty of kids tune in and are exposed to these ads, but the companies in question are so voluminous that children will see their advertising anyway. Even if gold medalists aren't scarfing down Big Mac's and washing them down with Coke, the majority of people who watch the games are.

Yes, the Olympics display the best in physical fitness and health, but the sponsorships being targeted by this study are more than what they produce for consumers. These companies are global brands that help to improve the quality of life and they all have foundations and programs established to better society using their wide ranges of awareness.