Coke's Super Bowl ad solicits fans' choice

In an interactive marketing blitz during the big game, Coca-Cola is asking viewers to cheer for a troupe of showgirls, a band of cowboys and a biker-style gang of "badlanders" -- all on a quest for a thirst-quenching Coke in a desert. Credit: Getty Images, 2012
Most people will be cheering for the 49ers or Ravens during Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3.
But Coca-Cola is asking viewers to cheer for three very different groups in an interactive marketing blitz during the big game: a troupe of showgirls, a band of cowboys and a biker-style gang of "badlanders" -- all on a quest for a thirst-quenching Coke in a desert.
The campaign, which will include TV spots as well as a website and social media sites, is Coca-Cola's latest attempt to capture the interest of Super Bowl viewers using a second screen such as a tablet or smartphone. With Super Bowl ads costing around $4 million for 30 seconds, it is increasingly important for marketers to make that investment count, extending Super Bowl campaigns online before, during and after the game.
A 30-second TV ad that started running yesterday on network TV and on YouTube sets up the game's premise. The show girls, the cowboys and the bikers are all in the middle of the desert. They race toward what looks to be a giant Coca-Cola, but it turns out to be a wooden sign that indicates the Coke is 50 miles away. Viewers are asked to vote to decide who wins.
The winner, tallied in real time, will be shown in an ad immediately following the final whistle of the Super Bowl.

Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.

Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.




