This computer animation spot done in the style of a video game offers a tongue-in-cheek twist on the gaming medium, which is often criticized for excessive violence. The commercial centers on Ray, who at first blush appears to be your standard street smart video game tough guy. Following a quick swig of Coca-Cola, Ray hits the ground running. Though his behavior initially appears to be a threatening prelude to a crime, each random act turns out to be one of love and kindness, helping to transform a seedy neighborhood into a Shangri-la.
We open on a speeding car dodging oncoming traffic, swerving around corners and wreaking havoc. The vehicle comes to a screeching halt and its driver, Ray, emerges. He walks into a convenience mart. The guy behind the counter surrenders immediately, assuming that Ray is about to hold up the store. Instead, Ray grabs a bunch of Cokes from the fridge and pays for them, dropping some coins in front of the shopkeeper.
Walking through town, Ray stops a yuppie type who’s driving a fancy automobile. The assumption is that a car jacking is in the offing. Ray pulls the preppie out of the car, seemingly on the verge of doing him bodily harm. But instead, Ray hands the guy a bottle of Coke, they have a drink and toast one another. Ray then continues to strut through the city, spreading good cheer. He throws money into a street musician’s guitar case, trips up a purse snatcher and returns the bag to its elderly woman owner. He grabs a mislaid bag of cash and tosses it to an armored car’s security guard attendant who had unknowingly dropped it.
Suddenly the whole neighborhood is in musical do-gooder step with Ray, enjoying life and exuding positive vibes. Hotdog vendors twirl their umbrellas, police dance in formation, fire hydrants explode, from which spurt cleansing arcs of water that sprinkle city sidewalks and streets. All the citizenry joins in for a choreographed sing and dance along. We end on a nearby billboard atop a building, which carries the Coca-Cola bottle logo along with a slogan, “The Coke side of life.”
The animated spot was directed by Smith & Foulkes of Nexus Productions, London, for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Key to the spot’s storyline was the creation of an urban landscape true to those seen in today’s computer games. But at the same time, the characters in that environment exhibited a greater range of emotion and expression, underscoring a breaking away from standard video game behavior.
The agency team included creative directors Hal Curtis and Mark Fitzloff, copywriter Sheena Brady, art director Shannon McGlothin, and producer Nike Polyocan.
Ben Cowell was head of 3-D/lead lighting/modeling artist for Nexus. His colleagues included animation supervisor Reece Millidge, character supervisor/modeling Darren Price, animators Stuart Doig, Ben Crowe, Antoine Bourruel, Alberto Lara and Andres Puente, and compositors Dean Koonjul and Dany Sayers.
Audio post mixer was Peter Rincon of POP Sound, Santa Monica. H. Scott Salinas and Chris Smith of bicoastal/international Amber Music served as the arranger and sound designer, respectively. The song used in the spot, “You Give A Little Love,” was composed by Paul Williams. Michelle Curran was executive producer for Amber, with Carol Dunn producing.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More