Coca-Cola’s latest online video campaign taking Cannes by storm featured a ‘Small World Machine’, linking Indians and Pakistanis via a live communications portal- getting 1.5 million YouTube views in the process. The viral, created by Leo Burnett Sydney for Coca-Cola, placed two camera equipped Coke vending machines set up in Lahore and Delhi. The film features Indians and Pakistanis interacting with each other, via the machine. Despite sharing historical and cultural links, the borders of India and Pakistan are divided by barbed wire with both nations sharing mutual hostility and suspicion. This ad from Coca-Cola aimed to break down these barriers with new technology to share common interests in a fun way. The key to engaging with each other through the machines was simple: people in India and Pakistan could complete a task, like touching hands, drawing peace, love, and happiness symbols -- together.
Brand: Pepsi | Sector: FMCG, Food and beverage | Country: India, Pakistan | Partner/agency: Leo Burnett Sydney | Objective: brand awareness, consideration and purchase | Format: Mobile, Outdoor, Video, YouTube
The firm used 3D touchscreen technology to project a streaming video feed onto the vending machine screen while simultaneously filming through the unit to capture a live emotional exchange.
The machines prompted shoppers in New Dheli to ‘make a friend in Pakistan’ while mall goers in Lahore were asked to meet someone from India.
Saad Pall, Coke’s assistant brand manager in Pakistan, said: “The people of Pakistan and India share a lot of common passions and interests – from food and Bollywood movies, to Coke Studio music, to cricket.
'What this project did was connect people who are not exposed to each other on a daily basis, enabling the common man in Lahore to see and interact with the common man in Delhi. It’s a small step we hope will signal what’s possible.”
