The hype around the avatar world of Second Life was deflating by 2009, but not forgotten. This spot by Wieden & Kennedy reflects that, suggesting that a Coke and a smile can break through digital barriers run amok.

That's not to say Coca-Cola itself was a stranger to marketing within virtual worlds. In 2002 it built a chat room called Coke Studios where users were depicted as avatars not so different than the ones you see above. In early 2007 it rented a floating pavillion inside Second Life that became a weekly party spot for game players' avatars and the center of a virtual vending-machine design contest. And later that year it relocated Coke Studios to a Coke-bottle-shaped island in the virtual world of There.com. "At CC Metro, the name of the island, The New York Times reported then, "visitors can set up a virtual alter ego known as an avatar, which can then shop and dance at the Coca-Cola diner, visit a movie theater to watch short films and soar around on a hoverboard like the one in the 1989 movie, 'Back to the Future Part II.'" 

Coca-Cola and Wieden would again take on the internet in 2015's Super Bowl XLIX with "Download Happiness."

Director: Smith & Foulkes, who also directed "Video Game" for Coca-Cola in the 2009 game. Production company: Nexus Productions. Director of photography: Mattias Montero. Executive producers: Charlotte Bavasso, Chris O'Reilly. Head of production: Juila Parfitt. Producer: Melody Sylvester.

Executive creative directors: Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman. Creative directors: Hal Curtis, Sheena Brady. Copywriter: Eric Samsel. Art director: Ken Meyer. Agency producer: Lindsay Reed. Agency executive producer: Ben Grylewicz.

Animation: Nexus. Head of 3D Animation: Ben Cowell. Character design: Mustashrik Mahbub. Storyboard: Adam Beer. 

Editorial: Speade. Editor: Art Jones. Post production: Framestore. Managing director: Helen Stanley.

BRAND: Coca-Cola

YEAR: 2009

AGENCY: Wieden & Kennedy

SUPERBOWL: XLIII