*Companies and advertisers have figured out that
youth culture is often synonymous with hip-hop culture
but that doesn’t mean that they like it. Take Pepsi’s
reluctant embrace of Ludacris, for example.
But there are ads that represent. Coca-Cola has found
a creative way to use elements of the culture–graf art,
human beat-boxing and freestyling–to promote its
soft drink, Coke Classic.
Starting today, Coca-Cola will begin airing three new
commercials that are part of its “Coca-Cola...Real” campaign.
The spots, directed by music video director Malik Hassan
Sayeed, show new soul artists like Amel Larrieux, Angie
Stone, Questlove from The Roots and Musiq, among
others, kicking it in a loft, improvising music and,
of course, drinking Coke.
“I agree with the circumstance of the commercials
because [freestyling] really happens,” Musiq told us.
“Last year we introduced the concept of New Classic
Soul and that’s aligning the brand with the genre of new
soul music,” says Deborah Riley Draper, a vice president
at the Burrell Agency, the ad company that created the
Coke campaign.
“We wanted to break through the soft drink clutter,”
Draper says.
They’ve evolved the concept since last year. This
year the ads focus on the creativity of soul music and
associate that creativity with Coke.
“We’ve chosen to go with artists from the neo classic
soul music genre,” says Hussein Warmack, brand manager
for Coke Classic.
“Neo soul is about being true to yourself. Being real.
They write their own lyrics, sing their own music, dress
how they want to dress,” he says.
“[Coke] is the real thing,” says Draper. “Its original, its
authentic, its tradition, it’s history– much like soul music.
So there are a lot of parallels there.”
The artists who appear in the spots have varying levels
of popularity. Some you will recognize, some you may not.
There’s Angie Stone and Musiq. Scratch and Questlove
from The Roots. Amel Larrieux, formerly of Groove Theory,
appears in the ads as do new artists Aaries and Donnie.
“We wanted to bring new artists to the attention of our
customers,” Warmack says.
“Our customers appreciate new information.”
Aaries are twin sisters who sing backup for Musiq and
who are scheduled to drop their debut CD this year. Donnie
is a new singer who has gotten a lot of buzz in Europe.
Then there’s graffiti and Ecko Clothing artist Mike
Thompson. In one of the commercials, Thompson
is shown with spray paint in hand and appears to be
tagging a wall. He repeatedly looks over his shoulder
and then back to his art but in the end we see that he
was painting a portrait of the recording artists in the
commercial.
“They had an amazing, real chemistry. It’s not
contrived,” says Draper of the artists.
Musiq agrees.
“It was really cool to work with [the other artists].
This is the first time me and Questlove officially and
formally worked together on a project so that was
interesting,” he said.
“Amel Larriuex is real sweet. I really admire her.
I’m actually a fan of hers,” Musiq said.
We were Amel Larriuex fans too (she’s way underrated),
but we’re even bigger fans after viewing the new Coke spot
which shows her using the top ranges of her voice as an
instrument and flexing her talent with the art of noise.
It’s a great moment that human beat boxer Scratch
acknowledges by giving her a loving push.
Sure these are just ads, but if we’re gonna have
products sold to us – and we are – then let them be like
this new Coca-Cola "Real" campaign or the Nike spots
a few years back that blended rhythmic basketball
dribbling with breakdancing.
Let advertisers entertain us and sell their products but
with a respectful nod to the culture.