Coca-Cola’s outdoor work for the ‘Small World Machines’ campaign via Leo Burnett Sydney
June 27 2013, 4:20 pm | | 62 Comments
Coca-Cola’s outdoor work, part of it’s ‘Small World Machines’ campaign is presented here, via Leo Burnett Sydney.
This is the outdoor campaign that ran during March 2013 as a lead up to, and during the Small World Machines campaign.
62 Comments
Funny how this campaign was recently released but won a Cannes Lion for work done in the 12 months preceding the festival…
That’s really nice work!
JUST STOP IT!
Let’s ignore the fact that these countries have centuries old differences based on much deeper things than sugar water. Lets ignore the fact that the motive behind this idea wasn’t based on peace/happiness but awards (the Canne images prove that.) Lets forget that some of the smartest minds of many generations have not been able to solve these issues (If only they knew that it was the black doctor that was the cure.)
But lets never forget that this is some of the most ignorant work ever made.
If Andy DiLallo was Chief Creative Officer, Writer AND Art Director on this, did he have something to do with it?
Will anyone outside the ad industry have any idea who these ads are for?
Have you approached Israel or Palestine yet?
Maybe you can invite the Dalia Lama to Canne as your guest next year?
Shiiiiit, why didn’t we think of that!?
not a good visual – i know you will all applaud but dissecting a head in anyway is bad art direction
Where did this run? It surely means nothing to you if you’re not one of the people who know the idea – ie the people on this blog, the Cannes jurors or the 6 Indian/ Pakistani people who ‘experienced’ it for the case study.
There is absolutely no-way anyone anywhere in the world outside of the ad community and coke marketing is going to a) attribute this work to Coke, and b) work out that coke is re-uniting two countries through their sugary carbonated beverage.
That wavy white line is irrelevant without the colour red or the word coke.
Wankery.
That’s actually really lovely. Nice work.
BENETTON
Jews and Palestinians, Indians and Pakistanis joined together by their love of an American corporation’s fizzy water.
Fucking awful.
Worse actually.
It uses wars that are, right now, killing innocents to flog Coke (if it runs anywhere that is) to Australians.
And the ‘world peace’ machine? It was there for precisely three days. Just enough time to shoot a snazzy entry video.
I’m sure it’ll possibly show its face in Israel at some point (actually, what’s the point? It’s already got some gongs. Fuck em.)
The rampant hunt for award recognition shows more and more what desperate lengths the creators will go for a pat on the back.
“I’d like to buy the world a coke” was an ad for hippies, by hippies and it’s remembered by its innocence, not by its metal.
And if fucking ran too. A shitload more than this did.
So who actually came up with the idea?
Great work, well done all involved
what market is this work running in?
Scccccaaaammmmmmm
Feels like it’s doing more to highlight the division between two nations.
Hey Copy guy,
Take note, not a single word used in these awesome posters.
You should learn the art of resisting pointless words too.
Well done Leo’s. Very envious.
Remember the brilliant doctors without borders print work where war torn regions were stitched back together?
There is serious heat on the agency now to at least pretend this was a real campaign, post Cannes. Hence some rushed scamps with no owner, no logo, no media placements and no credibility. Oh, and no coke marketers involvement nor endorsement from India nor Pakistan (they are livid). A shameful award-driven disaster.
Guys, seriously, this is embarrassing. One of the most cynical award efforts of all time. The Leo Burnett global hunt for awards is nothing but shameless. This industry really needs to take a good hard look at itself. Cannes has become a circus. When WPP and Ogilvy are dominating you know it no longer has anything to do with creativity but rather network one upmanship.
This campaign represents everything that’s wrong with our industry.
And the farce continues….
QQ nailed it. This makes me feel ill.
I love the jealousy it’s so funny.
LB won a heap of awards and you guys didn’t.
The work is great and well respected international judges thought likewise. I’m sure Leo’s isn’t sweating over these little amateur baby comments.
But go ahead, bitch all you want, look like fools.
Hahahahahah …….
This campaign is fucking awful. Do the people at Leo’s not know what they’ve got themselves in to? Surely common sense, discussions when reviewing the work internally and advertising people acting like human beings would have decided that this is ugly, misguided and self serving work.
I’d be embarrassed to work at an agency that thought this was a good idea.
This is advertising at its most disgusting.
It is contrived at best and at worst it makes light of a real, on-going issue. To suggest that the first steps to peace between India and Pakistan is a can of Coke is sickening.
Its easy to run a scam that is half a world away. So why wouldn’t you do it here? There are plenty of places around Australia where tensions between white and black Australians could really use a can of Coke to make it all better….
#Good Laugh
(Or ‘Leos Staffer,)
Cannes isn’t D&AD.
And every week I get numerous PDF folios from creatives all over the world with pages of Lions and Cannes finalists.
An Indian guy who emailed me had fifteen. All based on one-off installations around Mumbai.
Cannes lost its value years ago. Sure it’s a lovely jolly and all that, but every fucker’s got Lions now.
Yep. It’s a lovely pat on the back and sometimes you get laid, or get drinks bought for you but does it make a campaign respectable or genuine?
Nope.
It’s just another scammy campaign from the agency more famous for suspect work than almost any other.
And this one just happens to be morally repugnant.
I think you are missing the point, the fact that the creators did it for awards is probably the reason people are disappointed.
This work shows no understanding of the issues at hand in that region. But a very keen understanding of how to present a dodgy piece of work to a jury and win Lions for it. It sets a trend in this business that is unhealthy and underhanded to a degree that people are just not comfortable with.
The fact that I am sure Leo Burnett isn’t sweating it is the very reason for my anger.
A very sad reflection on the ad industry.
But then again, we are talking about an agency that sees every natural disaster in QLD as another opportunity to do ‘agency-funded’ advertising in a bid for for awards.
The photography is amazing simon.
check his site out…
http://simonlisterphotography.com/
Australians love racism, so Coca-Cola took it to the next level by exploiting the sensitive political tensions in the Sub-Continent. We reminded Australians across the country that complex global conflicts could be reduced to an upbeat sales message. Together, we proved that when you have a Coca-Cola in your hand, you don’t need anything in your head. Talk about happiness. Party on, small world.
Buggered if I can see what is wrong with Coca Cola wanting to bring diabetes to the world, especially those countries with less sophisticated medical services where it will do the most harm. And if LB get a few awards along the way well Coke comes from the country that understands collateral damage.
@ Good Laugh – Mate, unfortunately you’ve completely missed the point of this business and at the same time agreed with all the negative sentiment on this thread. I can only assume that you’re quite new to the advertising industry and haven’t worked out yet why, and how, you get paid.
This is terrible scam work that has attempted to leverage a cultural/ religious conflict only to win awards. The fact that it did win awards doesn’t make it a great strategic idea. In fact I’m looking forward to judging the effectiveness paper when/ if it’s written.
There’s no heat on the agency really. Just us whingers.
They did it to win a swag of metal, and they won a swag of metal.
It’s not exactly right, but that’s the game.
Good Laugh you’re obviously one of the creators. Your comment’s tone is proof of the raging arrogance behind this terribly, terribly misguided idea.
Some juries kicked this campaign out for two reasons. First it’s obvious scam factors- ran for three days in March in one shopping mall in India just long enough to film a case study and get the hell out, and two- because it’s deeply misguided and offensive.
There was a lot of pressure from Leo Burnet’s and their global CCO, who was a jury chairman to force juries to give it gold. There was also pressure from the Cannes organizers and the Coke client for it to win.
All kinds of wrong, and sad because it brings down the value of a Cannes Lion.
I didn’t even know that coke was a client of Leo Burnett Sydney?
Keep going while I go get some popcorn…
@Voice over
You’re acting like it was an “Australian” problem but didn’t it just get judged a great idea by a bunch of international juries at cannes. If other countries are so much more socially conscious than Australia why didn’t they find it offensive? There was generally one Australian on each jury and about 20 non-australians.
What does Todd say? As a great commentator on advertising, would he honestly put hand on heart and declare that he believes in this work? And if this is what Leo’s Sydney can produce without having the account, I can’t wait to see what O&M get up to next year now the moral floodgates are well and truly open.
To my knowledge Leo’s Sydey are NOT on Coca-Cola Australia’s roster. Their three lead creative agencies are Ogilvy, Host and McCann, along with Naked, Ikon, Wunderman and Urban.
So who commissioned this work and for what brief? If it came out of Australia seems odd that they choose India/Pakistan when we have plenty of cultural divisions here.
CB, can you ask Coca-Cola Australia for a comment?
It certainly feels like it was created by juniors without a real understanding of the business we’re in.
The comments above reflect this.
So this post was taken down, then returned a few hours later, but this time alludes to the outdoor running back in arch, which makes the can win possible.
WTF????
So why haven’t we seen any of these outdoor posters anywhere between March and now? If it was legit, Coke would make sure we even saw them in our sleep!
Shame, Leo’s and shame Coke for fostering this greedy trophy hunt.
Dear Todd Sampson
This is your agency and your own industry reputation at stake.
Please publicly validate the legitimacy of this work, tell us how and why your agency did it, where and when it ran, which clients approved it, did either the Coke india or Pakistan client approve it, when and how many times did the outdoor run, when and how any vending machines existed, how many people from India and Pakistan united and lived happily ever after because of your Cannes gold lion winning work?????
And before you commit an answer, be aware that several others in the industry already have the answers to these questions.
We all keenly await a response.
This was not the only Coke scam in Cannes this year.
The ‘share a can’ idea where the can broke into two cans was not real.
In fact when the can was opened by a juror, it contained industrial silicone and was clearly a mock up or ‘prototype’.
Both these idea’s are as Coke calls them “inspiration” films, created to sell the ideas though the business, or more accurately, enter them into Cannes so that Coke can win Client of the year.
Here is what the IMO of Coke Asia had to say on the internet only a few days ago about the project.
http://www.beveragedaily.com/Processing-Packaging/Coke-working-hard-on-possibly-extending-Sharing-Can-Singapore-pilot
In the article he clear says that it is a prototype and is in the process of being considered for production.
This idea also won gold lions and added to Cokes tally, resulting in them receiving the client of the year award.
Between this and the small work machines, there is a lot of answering to do.
Shame Coke
Shame Cannes
Shame their agencies.
Boil down the metal and it amounts to 30 pieces of silver. Scum!
The film was sent to me by a family member a few months back. I had no idea what it was about and by the end of it I have to admit it actually made me feel good and I did get a little emotional. It’s beautiful. I never got the impression Coke were exploiting the conflict in these countries or that they were trying to solve all their problems. For me it was just them bringing a little bit of happiness not solving world peace.
I eventually found out it came out of Leo’s Sydney and like most it tainted my thinking. Suddenly like most I had a lot of questions. Do they have the Coke client? Is it a scam? Why these 2 countries? etc.
I started watching the campaign and it’s PR closely.
-No, Leo’s Sydney do not have them as a client, but Leo’s Chicago do. They sent out a global brief which is why I gather Chicago are credited with Sydney on this project. Fishy?
– Is it a scam? I’m not sure I know what a scam is anymore. I always thought a scam was something creatives do quickly without the knowledge or brief from a client to win awards. This seems like it was way too big to scam, it’s not something you can do quickly. The client seemed to back it 150% too. So again, what is a scam?
– Why these 2 countries? I don’t know the answer to that. Impact I guess. Maybe it was in the brief? Maybe sales of Coke isn’t great in those countries? Let’s face it, the campaign would not have got as much views and PR if it had been done between Australia and NZ 🙂
Look, It’s a nice campaign. I can’t bitch for the sake of it. It does have few unknowns but I think most people are more skeptical because it has come from LB Sydney than anything else. If all legit, I applaud them. Like them or not they are constantly doing good work. Heck, can you imagine if they did ‘Dumb ways to die’? I honestly believe people would be sharpening knives and screaming scam too.
Coke has been banging on about this peace crape for years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2msbfN81Gm0
Can’t we all just going on fucking each other over!!
Cannes has lost all legitimacy already. Never ending categories, infinite subcategories, and countless sub-subcategories have devalued the Cannes Lions currency down to a point where a great campaign not only can win a gold once, but 25 different times! It is a business, and its business is entries! Now, because of the name ‘Cannes’ and all it represents, prestigious film festivals, the glamour of the french riviera and all that it still has a perception of grandeur. It’s a massive business the Cannes Lions. Big Networks, Big Sponsors, Big brands, big speakers. And it’s getting bigger and bigger. But is it getting better? Is it getting more desirable? Is it a real benchmark for world creativity when politics and power play havoc in the decisions of the juries, who are forced to give away countless lions to the same work just because it was entered and it’s the ‘right thing to do’? There was a time when having a Cannes Lion of any denomination felt like a privilege, an honour bestowed that came once in a blue moon. The elusive one to get. Now that they’re handing them out like candy, specially to dubious entries sponsored not only now by agencies, but by power hungry clients, having one doesn’t feel like much. Did I mention that the Cannes Lions festival is for sale? The best thing in the world that could happen is if WPP or Coke will buy it. That will be nothing short of ironic.
From the client:
http://creativity-online.com/news/video-cocacolas-wendy-clark-on-ideas-with-no-strategy/242777
Sure doesn’t sound scamy to me.
There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of work made purely for the self serving interests of winning creative awards. Sometimes to bolster the agencies reputation (otherwise no one wants to work there), sometimes to bolster someones wallet. It’s bullshit, but then what do you expect?
But really, is this work all that good? The split image thing is not exactly ground breaking. The images either side are not so incredibly interesting a juxtaposition. The Coke wave device… yeah, so? It’s alright, not great. Happiness between India and Pakistan? I’m like a few others here wondering why them in particular? If Benneton did this campaign, they have been a whole lot more provocative… christians / muslims maybe.
They would have done it beautifully too – the priest and nun kissing for example.
Just seems a whole lot of hoo ha for what is fairly unremarkable print work.
For me, if you’re going make work just for awards, make it really great inspiring work.
So McKann Melbourne win the most lions at Cannes ever as mentioned on this website, yet that post had half the amount of comments on it (see below link)!
Only a few people wrote comments congratulating them! Can you believe that Shit?…. This confirms everything that is wrong with the Aussie/NZ industry.
You guys would rather bitch, finger point, degrade, call out, devalue, insult, personally attack people instead of sitting down and praising good news. How many of you sent McKann a congratulations message? How many sent them a message thanking them for doing Aust proud. Not many as proven.
Let me say it again: They won more Cannes LIons than anyone ever! EVER!
You’re all nothing but whingers who would rather spit venom than praise. Some of the comments on this blog are the harshest i’ve read. No one deserves that.
Get a life. Better still, send McKann’s a message.
(http://www.campaignbrief.com/2013/06/dumb-ways-to-die-the-all-time.html
… for doc’s post. Good points.
This is shameful, shameful, shameful. It’s not smart, it’s not clever, it’s not funny, it’s not strategic, it’s not branded, it’s not respectful and it further marginalises the already marginalised. A new low for the Australian advertising industry. All to win some crappy, poorly powder coated metal. Well done to all involved, you’re fucking our industry for all of us.
The reason so many people are disgusted with this shameless trophy hunting, is because it is the antithesis of the Dumb ways to Die campaign.
Unlike DWTD this brings the industry we all work in and believe in into disrepute.
How do we all go on trying to make great award winning work, when Burnett’s can make a joke of the industry with this such stupid self serving crap.
It has gone too far, and Leo’s Sydney has for too long been the catalyst this win at all costs attitude.
Enough is enough.
It is time for us all to stop rewarding this kind of thing, and to look very carefully at any Leo’s work before awarding it.
Doc, very diplomatic mate.
The only person here who isn’t making attacking insults or arrogant defensive remarks. Well done. You tried made sense of it all. .
Hey pop,
You’re in the wrong industry mate. Praise people? What are you on? It rarely happens. It’s more entertaining to insult.
Here’s a little test:
Pop, nice post mate. Well done champ. Your agency should be proud!!!!!
OR
Pop, you’re a scammy little dickhead and your entire agency should feel ashamed!
See, which do you find more entertaining?
Sorry to burst your bubble ‘pop’.
And another from the client:
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/coca-cola-unbottled/a-small-world-perspective-from-coca-cola-india-deep-down-we-know-that-to-co-exist-is-to-exist
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/coca-cola-unbottled/cokes-small-world-machines-from-pakistan-with-love
Still a scam? I doubt it.
Where the hell is my Fonzie comment? You muppets can’t handle insight… Muppets
If you only see the outdoor, these ads make absolutely no sense.