Coca-Cola and Natasha Lyonne encourage you to be more 'open' (even as the world falls apart around you)

Coca-Cola previously made a big splash with campaigns that encouraged people to “Open Happiness.” Now the brand just wants folks to just be “open,” period. A new spot from Wieden & Kennedy London and directed by Steve Rogers depicts conflicts of humankind—big and small— in sharp relief: couples fight, neighbors bicker, pundits bark over each other on the news. The tension manifests however, not just in their raised voices—the world literally starts to fall apart around them. Walls crash down, windows crack, gun blasts and characters from a video game torpedo from the TV and into the living room. As the warring reaches its peak (two superheroes collide in mid-air and then crash to the ground), actress Natasha Lyonne ("Russian Doll," "Orange is the New Black") blithely bounces onto the scene to put an end to it all. “Guys, guys, this isn’t how you save the world,” she says. “Everyone’s obsessed with being right about everything. If you asked yourself, could I be the one who’s wrong? Maybe things would change for the better.” The endline reads, “Everything’s better when we’re open” and an animation then shows two fists bumping together before transforming into the Coke swirls. The campaign aims to nurture empathy, building on Coke’s 134-year-brand purpose directed at lifting people up and bringing more joy to the world. According to W&K London creatives Ben Shaffery and Molly Wilkof, Lyonne was the first choice for the campaign’s celebrity talent. “By the time she appears in the film, we really need someone to cut through the chaos and snap us back to reality,” Shaffery says. “Natasha is about as real as it gets,” Wilkof adds. “Her voice, her personality—she’s pretty no-nonsense and down-to-earth. She felt like the perfect fit." The effort also includes comic strip-style out-of-home ads and new Coke cans designed by artists Alva Skog and Nimura Daisuke. The push is running across Europe including in the U.K., Spain and Germany.

Coca-Cola and Natasha Lyonne encourage you to be more 'open' (even as the world falls apart around you)

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