Ogilvy Amsterdam Asks ‘What Are You Waiting For?’ for Coke

By Erik Oster 

Ogilvy & Mather Amsterdam launched a new anthem ad for Coca-Cola, delivering the message, “Choose Happiness.”

Set to a song by Amsterdam-based rapper HT, the spot posits the meaningless message that while happiness may come to those who wait, it can also be something you choose (and thus don’t have to wait for). It’s meaningless corporate speak, made worse by lines about discovering “how happiness and hands are best friends” (a line Beavis and Butthead would undoubtedly find amusing). Adweek put it well when it described the spot as “pandering to vain conceptions of empowerment” — there are attempts to be edgy here via a protest scene accompanied by lines about overcoming fears and someone extending a foam middle finger, but ultimately the ad has nothing to say and comes across as more desperate than inspiring.

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Credits:

Client: Coca-Cola
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Amsterdam
Chief Creative Officer: Ogilvy Darre van Dijk
Sr. Copywriter Ogilvy: Jesse Ridder
Sr. Art Director Ogilvy: Jurriaan van Bokhoven
Agency Producer Ogilvy: Pirke Bergsma
Client Services Director Ogilvy: Annelouk Kriele
Account Director Ogilvy: Frouke Vlietstra
Director Caviar: Arnaud Uyttenhove
Executive Producer Caviar: Eva van Riet
Producer Caviar: Lynn Bernaerts
Producer Caviar: Neil Cray
DOP: Dimitri Karakatsanis
Editor the Whitehouse: Martin leRoy
Editor Gentlemen’s Club: Will Judge
Editor Kapsalon: Brian Ent
Colourist Glassworks: Scott Harris
Colourist Glassworks: Matt Hare
Flame Glassworks: Kyle Obley
Nuke Glassworks: Jos Wabeke
Executive Producer Glassworks: Jane Bakx
Producer Glassworks: Christian Downes
Sound engineer Wave: Randall McDonald
Music Ogilvy: Darius Dante
VO: Haris Trnjanin (HT)
Client Coca-Cola: Guido Rosales

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