Coca-Cola reveals its ‘point of view’ on diversity and inclusion in new campaign

Coca-Cola has unveiled the latest ad for its ‘Taste the Feeling’ campaign, including “a wink” to the company’s stance on diversity and inclusion.

The ad shows a brother and a sister race to win the affection of the family pool boy by being the first to offer him a cold Coca-Cola. Unfortunately for them, their Mum was just a bit faster.

It follows on from the ‘Brotherly Love’ ad, which came out early last year, and looks to deliver a “fresh” take on sibling rivalry. Just like the previous campaign, the brand looks to integrate “product benefits with emotional brand values”.

“We wanted to position an ice-cold Coca-Cola as the ultimate object of desire, but also tell an emotional, human story – pretty much following the spirit of the campaign to integrate product benefits with emotional brand values,” says the brand’s vice president of global creative Rodolfo Echeverria.

This campaign also touches on the brand’s values surrounding diversity and inclusive by featuring a teenager with a crush on the pool boy.

“This story has more layers, including a wink that touches on our point of view regarding diversity and inclusion. We are managing our culturally relevant messages organically within our campaign spots not as the main subject of the story but as sub-text,” Echeverria adds.

“As a global company, we strive for diversity, inclusion and equality in our business and support these rights in society and through our work.”

The campaign also fits with Coca-Cola’s ‘One Brand’ strategy, which sees its four variants – Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Coke Life – placed under one ‘master brand’. Any marketing activity will focus on the overall brand, without creating different personalities for its variants.

Coca-Cola has claimed that it has seen “green shoots”, having grown both retail sales and the overall Coca-Cola brand.