Sip nothing, Feel everything: Coke Zero's ingenious audition ad campaign

Conceived by Ogilvy, the new ‘Coke Zero Auditions’ campaign plays off a universally well-known ‘method acting’ routine where actors pretend to sip an imaginary beverage, and try to do it as convincingly as possible. Aspiring actors were asked to audition for the campaign by imagining that they’re drinking a Coke Zero.

But the twist was the auditions weren’t for a campaign - the auditions were the campaign. The clips of actors drinking from invisible cans perfectly demonstrates how a Coke Zero refreshes while having ‘zero impact’ on your calorific intake. In short, as far as calories are concerned, it’s as good as drinking nothing at all. With no copy and no product, the ads demonstrate what Coke Zero is all about in the most minimalistic, simple and striking way possible.

Greishma Singh, Vice President, Marketing, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia added, “Across geographies and generations, Coca-Cola is known for its taste and iconicity and Coke Zero for all the delicious Coke taste with no calories. This campaign leans into the simplicity of a very clever idea to bring the delicious taste of a Coke Zero to life without the usual taglines, direct messaging… without even showing the product!”

This campaign has been conceptualized by Ogilvy India as a part of WPP Open X. Commenting on the creative insight behind the campaign, Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India said, “We realized that the biggest inspiration lies within the name ‘Coke Zero’. In the spirit of ‘zero’, we designed a campaign that simply and effectively shows the Zero impact that it carries, by not showing the product at all. Sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that bring out the most magic.”