Over the past month, we’ve seen Fanta’s re-branding efforts (led by Ogilvy) lean heavy on CGI and stray from using actual people in its advertisements. Yeah, a fake 3D city looks pretty cool, but how do you get a targeted youth demographic to spontaneously break into a dance party in real life? Well, you apparently turn college kids’ elevator rides into “Candid Camera” meets “Soul Train.” And of course, you do this social experiment at the hardest-partying college in the known world during finals week.
This past winter, Fanta invaded the elevators at the Lucky private residential building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. As this was filmed at my alma mater, I’m admittedly a little biased about how great I think this spot is. But, if there’s one study body you can count on to turn any elevator ride into “Jump Around” at a Badger football game, it’s these kids. While Wisconsin is known more for beer drinkers than orange soda enthusiasts, I can tell you from my experiences in college that Fanta makes an excellent (and cheap) mixer that should be included at every house party. Props to Fanta for seeing the opportunity on college campuses and producing genuine smiles on the faces of youth.