Campaign : Shadow
Brand : Coca-Cola
Company : Coca-Cola India
Agency : McCann Erickson
The Campaign
The ad opens with Imran Khan, the protagonist , who has just shifted into his new apartment and is arranging his belongings. As he places a heavy box on the floor and wipes the sweat off his brow, he notices a shadow being cast from the adjoining flat. The shadow is of a person working on a laptop. As he looks at the shadow, it disappears. When Khan is about to get back to his work, he hears the sound of a Coke bottle being uncorked even as in the background, runs the old hit song “Aaj Ki Raat Koi Aane Ko Hai”. Now, the shadow of the person comes back with the shadow of a Coke bottle which is put down in front of the laptop. Khan looks around and grabs a lamp in his room and sets it so that the light falls just next to the shadow. In an exciting sequence of shadow-play (flapping bird, dog and a straw), Imran tries to get closer to the Coke bottle while the other person tries to keep him away from it. In his final attempt, when Imran tries to place the shadow of a straw in the shadow of the bottle, the other person turns off the light and the shadow disappears. A worried Khan rushes to the balcony to realize that the shadow was of a pretty girl who by then is standing in the balcony of her apartment. She extends the Coke bottle towards him.
The commercial ends with the tagline, ?Coke Khule Toh Baat Chale? (Coke Opens Up Possibilities).
Our Take
By using elements of shadow puppetry and play to showcase how strangers connect over a bottle of Coca-Cola, the new ad has tried to established a strong connect with the youth. The ad is engaging as it keeps you watching it till the end. The music has a sense of mischief and playfulness, which matches the mood of the film. Unike other campaigns, this one was first released on mobile phones and online media and then on television to give maximum visibility to its target audience. The silent yet unique interaction of the two protagonists bridging the gap of urban isolation and connecting over a bottle of Coca-Cola has been aptly captured.
RAtings