Coke Chase

     At the Super Bowl this year, Coke decided to ditch the polar bears and try something new. They decided to incorporate and try to elicit viewer participation in their commercial. The ad spot pictured a group of cowboys, showgirls, and a group of tough guys (Badlanders) racing in an arid dessert for a Coke off on the horizon. The commercial which aired during the first half of the Super Bowl ended with a prompt for viewers to visit cokechase.com to vote on who would win the race to get a Coke.

    

     During the time after this ad aired, the website for coke chase was flooded and did not work for many people that tried to vote. This made many people question Coke's preparation for the ad and full thought. Even though it did not work for some, many people were able to vote. This ad was the only ad during the biggest event for advertisers to use crowdsourcing to determine what their later ad would be. This was a great idea for Coke to try and engage the viewers, but many people including myself felt that this ad fell flat. As a Coke fan, I am very fond of the Polar Bear ads that have seemed to strike a chord with millions of people across the globe. Although this ad was able to drive active engagement through the coke chase website, the ad seemed to be a little off target from previous advertising campaigns that Coke has done. 

     I believe that crowdsourcing will become more and more popular as social media become intertwined with advertising. This ad was a great example of how it can be done, and how a company can make the viewer feel they have more power in certain situations. As for furthering the brand and making something memorable, I do not believe Coke was able to fully accomplish this. 

    On a side note since the Super Bowl, Coke has added many more videos to their Coke Chase YouTube page allowing viewers who enjoyed the ad to see additional content. This is a great way to satisfy those who did enjoy the spot and keep the viewers interested in what Coke is doing.