Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is proud of the fact that it's been a sponsor of the Olympic Games since 1928 - longer than any other corporate sponsor. Apparently, long-time sponsorship can lead to marketing campaigns that can only be described as cheesy. Coca-Cola's sponsorship activities related to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China include the use of celebrity Olympic athletes, Yao Ming and LeBron James. The duo appears in a commercial (check it out below) and also teamed up to create the "Unity Bottle" (pictured).
What the heck is a Unity Bottle you ask? According to a press release that Coke sent to me, it's an, "inspiring symbol of unity and cultural collaboration." Here's another gem from the press release, the, "Coca-Cola Unity Bottle symbolizes the global harmony of the Games." The Unity Bottle was designed by Yao Ming and LeBron James, at least that's what Coke claims in the press release, and it appears that an actual Unity Bottle was created that measures 2-meters.
Guess what? You can even design your own Coke bottle by visiting Coca-Cola's "Design the World a Coke" interactive tool. Sounds similar to the Pepsi (NYSE: PEP) online contest held in December 2007 that invited people to design a Pepsi can using their interactive tool for a chance to win $5,000).
What do you think? Is a Coca-Cola Unity Bottle too over the top and borderline cheesy or do you like it?
And in case you want to see it, here's the Yao Ming and LeBron James Coca-Cola commercial:
» Olympics Advertising Reaches New Heights from MarketingBlurb
2008 Olympics-related advertising could reach $4 to $6 billion and a record 63 global companies have become official sponsors according to the New York Times (you can follow the link to learn about Coke's Olympic sponsorship). ... [Read More]
Tracked on: August 2, 2008 6:09 PM | Permalink to Trackback