Coca-Cola is going inclusive.
The beverage brand is launching its biggest-ever campaign -- "The World's Cup" -- created for the 2014 FIFA World Cup that will be played in Brazil starting June 12. Rival Pepsi has also launched a global soccer campaign.
At the centerpiece of the campaign is
Along with that film, there is also a series of documentary-style short films, each of which feature unique groups of soccer lovers. They include a team of grannies that love football; a blind soccer player who is now part of the Brazil National Paralympics five-a-side soccer team; and an Argentine football player who has no arms.
The campaign, for which planning started in 2012, was the result of a co-created brief with Wieden & Kennedy based on insights from Coke's core consumer audience -- teenagers and young adults. "The cup belongs to all of us, not some of us," Wendy Clark, senior-VP-global sparkling brand center said in an email. "And we wanted our campaign to celebrate this message of inclusivity and togetherness."
The agency and Coke's team did "exhaustive research and recruitment" to find the people featured in the campaign. "We wanted to reach and include the most remote fans of the beautiful game," said Ms. Clark.
It's not entirely surprising that Coke's campaign includes many images of people with disabilities. Marketers like Swiffer have already tried to be more "inclusive" in their advertising, featuring people that overcome odds despite disabilities -- what founder of ad industry group DisABILITYincites Tonya Deniz called "super crips" -- where those with disabilities are almost superhuman in their achievements.
"We certainly aim to create value for ourselves, but we also know that society expects us to create value that transcends just our own," said Ms. Clark. " I think in this instance by celebrating those who are often overlooked, truly inviting everyone to be a part of 'The World's Cup,' we create a value for those communities and an authencity in our storytelling that is both unmatched, but also important for the world."
The campaign also includes the "Happiness Flag," a photomosaic featuring fan faces and messages that will be shown on the pitch before the opening match in Sao Paulo. Previously, the brand also premiered the official "anthem" for the Cup, "The World is Ours," by David Correy.