There Is a Coke in All of Us

There's a Coke in All of Us

The 1970's was a notable turning point for Coca-Cola as during this time period, Coke would begin its journey to become one of the strongest brands on the planet; furthermore, they would also begin utilizing the association of "Happiness in a bottle" as a tool and message to unite people of every country through Coke. However, there is one time period in particular where Coke would exceed expectations and go on to create one of the most successful commercials for the company: "I'd like to buy the world a coke" (1971), was created in a time of stagnant economic growth, distrusting Americans and a war gone on for too long.

In 1971, Americans around the nation did their best to trust their country; unfortunately, with the Vietnam War being fought, the Cold War threatening nuclear warfare, and the wake of the Watergate scandal, the citizens of the United States were full of distrust, hate and confusion. In the midst of the chaos, Bill Backer, the creative director on the Coca-Cola account for McCann-Erickson, had a vision to create new radio commercials as songs sung by the group, New Seekers. He believed that during a time of despair for the world, it needed an answer: an escape. Coke was Backer's answer to the disgruntled Americans and war driven world. He, his colleagues and the singing group got together to craft a song that represented unity, a universal home, and love. When all was complete and sent to the radio stations for testing, it flopped. Coca-Cola hated the ad and buying airtime for it seemed impossible. Backer's vision of Coke being the medium of connection and unity for people around the world was temporarily unsuccessful.

Following Backer's unsuccessful attempt in creating a radio, he explained to the Coca-Cola executives that the idea needed a visual element. His approach succeeded and he was funded $250k to film with: one of the largest budgets ever given to a TV commercial at the time. With his ambitions set and passion reignited, Backer followed through with the commercial's development and focused on several of the most important themes of the 70s. The 70s were a time of rebellion, a rebellion of the status quo for teenagers who wanted to think differently. Backer realized that the teenagers 70s were going to be the academics, politicians and businessmen that would give shape the future. In addition, after ethnic quotas on immigration were removed in 65, the number of first generation immigrants in the U.S. quadrupled to 9.6 million in 1970. With these two weapons in mind, Backer used them as the main visual elements in his TV commercial: young people from around the world on a hilltop, singing symbolic lyrics that represented the unity in diversity.

With the launch of it in early 1971, the response of the public was positive. Within half a year, bottlers began receiving hundreds of thousands of letters with positive feedback. It was clear that the commercial was not just a "commercial"; rather, "I'd like to buy the World a Coke" was something much more and touched people in a way that advertisements had never done before. The commercial featured young people from around the world, gathered peacefully on a hilltop, singing together. Together, they sang: "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company." The message could not be clearer: Backer wanted people to be unified through Coke regardless of whatever differences we may have. It was a message used to show the unity that was lacking in the U.S.A;