In the midst of COVID, Coca-Cola wanted to uplift and unite people out of the dividing times of the pandemic. But there was also an overarching objective of positioning Coke’s core values of connection, togetherness and optimism in a post-COVID world. As a global brand, addressing a global pandemic, Coke wanted to demonstrate thought leadership to an audience that included humanity at large.

Coming out of lockdown, Coca-Cola invites us to challenge the so-called new normal and stay open to change with a poem, co-written and performed by British artist George The Poet. To the sound of a rendition of the iconic 60’s track “San Francisco”, George performs his words, but as the film progresses, he’s joined by different people, from all walks of life and parts of the globe. Each one makes the poem their own, challenging the old notions of work, family, body and race awareness, gender, immigration, sexuality and female leadership, all in one continuous, poetic flow. As a last statement of optimism George ends with “We’ll weather this storm. So I’ll be open like never before”.

COVID-19 put the world into lockdown the likes of which we have never seen. And when our borders and doors close, our hearts and minds close, too. Coca-Cola wanted to position itself in this new world we were living in, while still upholding its core values of connection, togetherness and optimism that Coke had always stood for. At the same time, Coke also wanted to uplift and unite people at a time when everything was feeling disconnected from each other. So we doubled-down on our core value of optimism. And dialed in on the feeling of openness. Sure, you can open a Coke. And you can even open your stores and restaurants too. But let’s encourage everyone to open our minds, hearts and attitudes while we’re at it.

Produced remotely in 6 weeks during lockdown, the global campaign ran in +40 countries as TVC and on Youtube. Supporting the global blackout against hate speech, it did not run on social media. The work ran in WEBU for 6-8 weeks before it rolled out in LATAM in late 2020.

After a launch in over 40 countries in Europe and Latin America, a YouGov BrandIndex survey, compiled exclusively for The Grocer, found the campaign was one of the most effective FMCG campaigns of the year. It was also selected by Contagious Magazine among the most contagious of 2020. With 100 million dollars donated to COVID relief efforts, the campaign supported more than 13.000 bars, restaurants and shops, with over €4M donated directly to Horeca partners.