A new era in advertising is upon us. "Welcome to the Coke Side of Life", the just-announced Coca-Cola slogan for 2006 is certainly an improvement on the 1906 effort "the great national temperance beverage".
But I can't bring myself to praise it, because it seems, well, a little bit clumsy.
This is a shame, because whatever your thoughts on advertising, Coke's marketing campaigns are important, if only because their ubiquity makes them part of the cultural furniture we sit on to live our lives.
Coke marketing boss Mary Minnick explained the strategy. "We believe there are times or a moment in the day when only a Coke will do, and that is the framework for our advertising." That sounds smart if a little arrogant, but I doubt WTTCSOL is up to the task.
The slogan will go through a number of iterations, such as "Chill on the Coke Side of Life" which seems at first a clever idea but in reality is an indication of weakness.
It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue and certainly compares poorly with slogans from times past, such as Enjoy Coca-Cola (1965), Coke adds life (1976), Coke is it (1982), Can't beat the feeling (1988).
I'll take a deep breath and say it is even worse than Always Coca-Cola, which personally annoyed the bejesus out of me but ran from 1993 to 1999 and worked, judging by the fact that I can still hum the tune.
This little story might be symptomatic of a wider problem in adland, the relentless pull for a new idea. Coke, if you can't come up with a great new idea and only an average one, why not go back to a much loved older slogan?
The ad industry would be shamed by it but the consumers would say thank you.
