In Coca-Cola’s fizzy new marketing campaign, a giant animated pink tongue follows a young woman through her memories of the many good times she enjoyed with Coke. 

No kidding. The ad opens with her enjoying her bottle of Coke while standing at a bus stop in the rain. Cut to a tongue’s-eye view of the cola gushing in, whereupon the giant serpentine tongue snakes off on a journey through a stream of her memories of the good times she’s enjoyed with Coke.

At the beach as she surfs and watches the sunset, the tongue is there with her. On a skiing holiday the tongue bursts up through the snow and chases her down the ski slope. In a darkened cinema the tongue joins her and they watch the movie together.

She’s surprised by a crowd of friends – and the tongue in a party hat – as she walks in on a party. Even when she dares a bungee jump, the giant tongue stretches down after her. 

In each of these scenes the tongue gets in on the act, enjoying each of these magical moments in its own right accompanied by a catchy ‘La La La’ track. And with a closing flourish the tail on Coke’s famous logo animates into the tongue shape to underline proceedings.

Created by Wieden&Kennedy London, the TV ads feature both classic Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. The campaign will also appear in outdoor, digital, experiential and PR activity.

According to Walter Susini, Coca-Cola’s marketing director for Western Europe,

“The creative dramatises the magic of the Coca-Cola taste both figuratively with the animated tongue, and emotionally through the memories associated with taking that first sip of an ice-cold Coca-Cola on a summer’s day.”

Interesting fact:

When launched in 1886, one of Coca-Cola’s key ingredients was cocaine, so being pursued by a giant pink tongue might not have seemed all that strange.