Coca-Cola is serving its Diet Coke and Smart Water in a rare place for the company these days: inside Hollywood blockbusters.
Many of the beverage giant’s products often appear in movies and TV shows, but not usually as a result of promotional arrangements. But on May 1, both drinks will briefly appear in “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” part of a partnership between Coca-Cola and the Walt Disney Company. The two companies have a decades-old agreement that allows them to discuss potential sponsorships. Other marketers are also taking notice of the film. Unilever’s TreSemme is also partnering with the facility.
The sequel to the 2006 original film is “a huge moment in fashion and culture,” said Sue Lin Cha, Coca-Cola’s vice president of water and tea beverages. The appearance of a low-calorie brand in a film set in fashion media is likely to be seen as authentic rather than strange. “What’s exciting about this movie is that not only will it appeal to the OG consumers like me who love the original movies, but I think there’s a new generation of fans who are eager to connect.”
Starting this week, British consumers will start watching Diet Coke videos to help promote The Devil Wears Prada 2. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola’s Smart Water will also be linked to the movie.
Diet Coke is introducing special slim cans and bespoke advertising placed in the offices of Runway, a media property located in the heart of the action. The commercial, which offers a Diet Coke break as a moment when fashion needs to pause, will air in the US, UK and other regions with localized elements. Meanwhile, Smart Water is launching a digital experience that offers consumers the chance to win special edition bottles and other perks.
It’s not common practice to feature multiple products from a single sponsor in a movie, but Coca-Cola executives say customers don’t drink from the same fountain all day long. “If you think about a typical consumption day, you don’t just drink one product all day long,” says Stacey Jackson, vice president of trademarks at Coca-Cola. “We recognize that consumers actually value a portfolio perspective.”
To quote one of the company’s many famous advertising slogans, Coke can bring life to many media properties. Coca-Cola, a prominent backer of the original broadcast of Fox’s “American Idol,” raised eyebrows in 2019 when it relaunched New Coke as part of its deal with the Netflix series “Stranger Things.”
But the company chooses such partnerships carefully, Jackson said. “We’re very intentional about making this something real and profitable, rather than something rigged,” she says. It’s unusual, she says, for beverage giants to arrange sponsorships. “We don’t do that very often,” she says.
