Diet Coke’s Message: Looks Still Matter

Advertiser: Coca-Cola Co.

Agency: Wieden & Kennedy, Portland

Challenge: Pump up sales of Diet Coke in the face of new competition from Pepsi One.

The Ads: Young, confident and stylishly thin women sip Diet Coke in two television commercials linked by the slogan “Live your life.” In one ad, a woman sips Diet Coke as she describes her life to an interviewer at a video dating service. She realizes her life is great and cuts short her interview. In another commercial, a woman drinking a Diet Coke at an isolated rest stop happily offers a ride to a good-looking guy when his junker slips out of gear and rolls off a cliff.

Comment: These ads don’t overtly sell thinness, as a previous campaign for Diet Coke in which young girls wondered aloud how they could grow up to be as svelte as Diet Coke drinkers. But the message that looks matter comes through nonetheless. That, at least, is what attracted the woman at the rest stop to the owner of the junker. What also comes through is a spirit of self-assurance that may help make Diet Coke more attractive to weight-conscious consumers. $$$