Coke’s ‘Masterpiece’ campaign brings Warhol and other classic art to life

“Masterpiece” works on many levels, Thakar said, including “romancing” Coke’s iconic bottle, which conforms to the styles of visual art in the film as it’s passed between pieces. The moving bottle also works as a metaphor for Coke’s distribution system, which was a source of inspiration for the story, he said.

“Basically, an entire universe comes together to uplift this one slumping teenager in a museum. And that’s what happens exactly [in real life],” Thakar said. “It’s where it comes from, and how many people are bringing it to you, whether its transportation, or loading, or a person who serves it to you in a restaurant or a kiosk. So we look at it as that universe comes together whenever you are slumping, or whenever you need that ice-cold refreshment of real magic.”

“Masterpiece” was created primarily to be long-format storytelling on social media, Thakar said. Snippets of the campaign can be cut down for shorter video pieces. The nearly two-minute ad may also run as a commercial in cinemas.

Also read: Inside Linda Yaccarino’s campaign to be TV’s partnership power broker

Interspersed with the widely recognized pieces of art in “Masterpiece” are what Coke called “some of the world’s most exciting emerging creators.” These works include “Divine Idyll” by Aket (Europe); “You Can’t Curse Me,” by Wonder Buhle (Africa); “The Blow Dryer” by Fatima Ramadan (Middle East); “Falling in Library” by Vikram Kushwah (India); and “Natural Encounters” by Stefania Tejada (Latin America). All the artwork in the ad is featured on a website.

Work from the five new artists, along with three pieces from the masters in the ad, will be a part of a digital collectible series Coke will launch in the coming weeks. The out-of-home campaign connected to “Masterpiece” is planned to launch shortly in Latin America, Thakar said. The campaign will come to other markets later this year, including the U.S. 

The “Real Magic” platform, which Coke introduced in 2021 as a means to advertise globally, has been a winner for the brand, Thakar said. It is part of the company's “network model” marketing approach that has led to more global creative briefs that can be used in multiple countries. In the case of "Masterpiece," there is no dialogue, so language differences are not a concern.