Putnam City North and Putnam City West High Schools are in the same Oklahoma town, separated by only eight miles. But they couldn’t be further apart because of their intense rivalry.

A new campaign from Cox Communications and 180LA, however, sought to bring them together, with a sneaky assist from the high schools’ marching bands. 

A  two-minute spot that feels like it’s plucked straight from “Friday Night Lights”— with a little bit of “Glee” mixed in, opens on scenes from both Putnam City schools, weaving in memories of their storied rivalry from fans and players of each. Each side is firm in the belief that its team is “better, stronger, faster,” as one player puts it, and it seems nothing can diffuse the tension between them. Enter: the band kids.

During a face-off between the teams, the schools’ respective bands march onto the field for the halftime show, playing a brassy instrumental rendition of “Why Can’t We Be Friends” and merging together as one, leaving the announcers astounded by the one-of-a-kind performance. 

“In the end, all of us want the same thing — to get along,” says one student. 

The film was directed by Matt Ogens via M ss ng P eces. The comments on the video on YouTube seem to include messages from students at PC North and PC West, with the current top commenter remarking that the kids did, in fact, become friends. 

The campaign is part of Cox’s larger initiative “The Connections Project,” which has shown how the brand has helped to deepen the relationships between various people. 180LA has partnered with Cox on the project since 2019. Past campaigns, for example, helped to bring frontline nurses closer to their families and provided opportunities for seniors who were isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic.