First Coke of the Year reminisces athlete's childhood

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ASIA-PACIFIC – CHINA, JANUARY 2, 2012: Coca-Cola’s latest campaign, "School Visit," for the 2012 Chinese New Year has athlete Liu Xang’s childhood flashbacks during his school days. Created by Leo Burnett Shanghai, First Coke of the Year was one of the agency’s hugely successful campaigns for Coke in the past.

Based on a true story of Liu’s school days, the campaign aims to express that Coca-Cola helps old friends connect and families reunite. The 30-second “School Visit” television commercial for Coca-Cola sees Liu returning home forthe biggest festival of the year. The scene shows him at his old school, eager to reunite with past classmates. Liu daydreams about a failed attempt at running for class president where he received a single vote. He is interrupted by former classmate, now teacher, who confides he gave his vote to Liu.

The campaign, which began on December 26, 2011, has become a feature of the mainland’s advertising year.

The TVC will air on terrestrial and cable television networks with out-of-home, point of sale, and print ad methods. Liufirst featured in the first Coke of the Year campaign in 2009, months after his withdrawal from the Beijing Olympic Games with an injury to his Achilles tendon. The storyline of the television commercial hinted at his public disappointment at withdrawing from the Olympics and his looming redemption.

The inspiration for this edition of the campaign came from Leo Burnett Shanghai executive creative director Amanda Yang. “Sharing is central to Chinese New Year. Sharing beverages is key to that festival. The creative puts Coke inthe center of that relationship, making Coke about togetherness, friendship and family,” Ms Yang said.

The New Year is a peak period for celebration and a key sales period for Coca-Cola. The School Visit spot and additional collateral can be can be viewed at Leo Burnett Greater China’s blog www.beinghuman.com.cn. The TVC can also be viewed at Youku.

Credits:

Title: First Coke of the Year – “School Visit”

Client: Coca-Cola

Creative agency: Leo Burnett Shanghai

Creative team: Amanda Yang, Gordon Hughes, Alexis Mardapittas, Colin Lee,

Joy Zou

Account management: Lou Field, Grace Fong

Film producer: Christine Chen

Film production company: Prestige Films

Film director: David Wang

Print producer: Crystal Xie

Photographer: Steve Koh