Coke, Pepsi & the ultimate form of flattery – – AreYouFanEnough?
October 17, 2013
by Gonzalo López Martí / AtkinsLopezMarti.com
We all know the cliché: imitation is yadda yadda yadda.
Please see the two videos below.
They are a part of a campaign I did for Coca-Cola in 2009, as creative head of WPP’s SCPF in Miami.
If my memory is not failing me, this campaign won some pretty decent accolades: it was selected as the US finalist for the Coke’s Worldwide Marketing and Commercial Excellence awards, in the digital category, beating out several campaigns by other US brands like Sprite and Vitamin Water.
Now take a look at these other two videos (Pepsi’s recently launched NFL effort, apparently by TBWA/Chiat Day):
Plagiarism?
Course not.
Pepsi & TBWA/Chiat have more than enough brainpower to create original thinking, needless to say.
Still, when a major advertiser is gonna spend that kind of cash to go national with a massive campaign, someone should google the tagline, at the very least.
God forbid your all-time competitor has used a pretty similar concept and the same exact verbal formulation three years ago.
No big deal.
All in a day’s work.
Another jour in Madison Avenue.
Just an unfortunate coincidence of an industry and its daily struggle to stay fresh, original and relevant.
Personally I am pretty flattered.
Looks like the original campaign from three years ago was quite ahead of its time.
Some write-ups in the press:
