Whether or not the Geico caveman will make it in primetime this fall remains to be seen. But the workers inside Coca Cola’s Happiness Factory, whom audiences first met in 2006 in a TV spot, have become movie stars. Earlier this month, “Happiness Factory–The Movie” was unveiled at an online global premiere event in virtual world Second Life, kicking off phase two of the “Coke Side of Life” campaign.
In the original TV spot, directed by Todd Mueller and Kylie Matulick of Psyop, New York, via Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam, audiences were taken deep inside a Coca-Cola vending machine, revealing a magical, fantasy world replete with whimsical animated characters all dedicated to dispensing a cold cool bottle of Coke.
In the movie, available at http://www.coca-cola.com/HF/index.jsp and again helmed by Mueller and Matulick via W+K Amsterdam, it is just another happy day in the Happiness Factory. The Chinoinks are busily dispensing Coke, the Cappers are capping and the Kissy Puppies are spreading love around the factory when suddenly disaster strikes. The alarm bells ring, the red light flashes and the unthinkable happens–the “Happiness Factory” runs out of Coke.
The movie shows the adventures of a heroic factory worker as he embarks on a quest to replenish the Coke, putting the happiness back in the “Happiness Factory” to get it up and running again.
Watching the three-and-a-half-minute film at the exclusive online gala event was an international crowd of nearly 100 avatars dressed in red carpet fashions, including singer Avril Lavigne and reporters from more than 16 countries worldwide.
Marc Mathieu, senior VP, global brand marketing and creative excellence, The Coca-Cola Company, and host of the premiere event said, “Everything about this campaign takes its lead from the entertainment industry–from the movie-style trailers to the authentically designed movie posters to the promotional packaging. It was only fitting that for our launch we chose a full-fledged movie ‘premiere’.”
Since launching in 2006, the original “Happiness Factory” has gone on to become the highest rated global spot The Coca-Cola Company has ever tested. Now airing in more than 100 countries, the ad has received numerous advertising industry accolades, winning a Silver Lion at the 2007 Cannes advertising awards, the Grand Prix Gold Prize at the 2006 Epica Awards and most recently a nomination for a primetime commercial Emmy in the United States.
The launch of the sequel marks the next phase in the award-winning “Coke Side of Life” campaign, which is continuing to drive Coca-Cola trademark brands to perform at their best globally in nearly a decade.
Mathieu added, “In ‘Happiness Factory–The Movie’, the iconic Coca-Cola contour bottle and the enduring mystery of the brand’s secret formula, come together to create a great piece of entertainment for the audience and an effective way for us to express the values of the Coca-Cola brand. We hope that our consumers will have fun with the campaign and think it is a sequel worth waiting for.”
The campaign also includes 30- and 60- second trailers, movie-inspired poster ads, promotional packaging, character licensing and interactive digital elements. “Happiness Factory–The Movie” was produced by W+K Amsterdam using “state-of-the-art” animation techniques and a team of more than 50 3-D animators from PSYOP.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More