UPDATED: Google remixes classic ads for SXSW
Classic commercials from Avis, Coke and others are re-imagined ... with some charmless interactiviity. UPDATE! A reply.
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© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
UPDATE March 17: Coke finally emailed NBR that "The Coca-Cola you sent was delivered!" along with a link to a YouTube clip (above) of the recipient's reaction. Spoiler: it's pretty lame. One suspects no-one will be re-making this campaign in 40 years time.
March 11: At the trendy South by Southwest Interactive Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas (aka SXSW), Google has unveiled a series of "remixes" of classic TV ads from the 1960s and 1970s.
Well one, so far - billed as a modern-day take on Coca Cola's "I'd like to teach the world to sing" commercial from 1971.
Others are promised for classic Avis ("We're number two, so we try harder"), Alka-Seltzer ("I can't believe I ate the whole thing") and Volvo ads.
When NBR checked in, it seemed the project was a little behind schedule for SXSW. Most clips were "still filming" according to Google's frenetic "Re-brief" website.
I'd to teach the world ... to send interactive, delayed response web messages.
The re-imagined Coke ad is an interactive PC or mobile experience, allowing you to send a free coke to someone elsewhere in the world. You can add a text or webcam message, if you wish.
NBR was disappointed there only seemed to be four locations.
Your correspondent added a text message, then hit send.
The coke was "sent." Nothing happened immediately, but there was a space to type in your email address so you could be alerted when a reaction did turn up from a person at one of the four special vending machine locations [UPDATE: Half a day later, there was still no response from the recipient. Boo.]
To occupy himself in the meantime, NBR began to read through the send-a-Coke experience's 2000-word Terms & Conditions statement.
It all seemed a little charmless next to the 1971 experience.
The new series of ads is being put together by an internal team at Google, plus agency WPP and some of the people involved in the original commericals.
NBR can't wait to see what they do with Alka-Seltzer. Maybe they'll be an app to send a free pill to an overweight, middle aged man in the location of your choice ...
Meantime, enjoy these clips of the original ads:
NBR staff
Sat, 17 Mar 2012
Sat, 17 Mar 2012
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
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UPDATED: Google remixes classic ads for SXSW
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