When Coca-Cola realized that people were drinking flavored sodas that were made by other manufacturers, it knew it should expand its range beyond Vanilla Coke and Cherry Coke.
Earlier this month it announced the launch of Orange Vanilla Coke in North America, the first new flavor for its original drink in more than a decade. On Monday, Coke released a commercial for the drink, based around a 1970s car chase movie theme, coinciding with its store rollout.
In the ad, a Coca-Cola truck drives along a freeway and ends up racing through city streets alongside an ice cream truck and one carrying oranges, according to industry website Ad Age. The three vehicles look like they are going to crash, before being stopped by a crossing guard. A can of the new drink rolls towards her and she takes a sip.
Coca-Cola researched the new flavor alongside three others: raspberry, lemon and ginger, it said in an online article, but the combination of orange and vanilla was the favorite. "We wanted to bring back positive memories of carefree summer days," said Coca-Cola Brand Director Kate Carpenter. "That's why we leaned into the orange-vanilla flavor combination — which is reminiscent of the creamy orange popsicles we grew up loving."
Cherry Coke launched in 1985, while Vanilla Coke launched in 2007. The company's research showed that only 12 percent of Coca-Cola drinkers chose flavored beverages. "This showed us our fans want choice but are getting it outside the Coke Trademark," Carpenter said.
There will also be a zero-sugar version of the new flavored drink and the campaign includes TV, social, digital, outdoor, mobile, radio and experiential marketing. It will also use events around the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament to push the new product.
"Our brief for the campaign was to have fun with flavors," Carpenter added. "We think this work brings to life the Coca-Cola personality in a playful, unexpected way."
The new drinks join a range of Diet Coke flavors, which include Ginger Lime and Twisted Mango. The company added Blueberry Acai and Strawberry Guava to its Diet Coke range last month.
Coke already has its own Freestyle beverage machines, allowing people to customize their drinks, and Coca-Cola as a company has almost 4,000 products, including 20 brands that have sales of at least $1 billion.