OPEN LIKE NEVER BEFORE: COCA‑COLA AND GEORGE THE POET UNITE TO SEND MESSAGE IN CURRENT TIME OF CHANGE

Featuring a manifesto poem written by George “The Poet” Mpanga, the new campaign, which launches on 1 August, encourages people to be ‘open, like never before’ in a world forever changed by the global pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a ‘new normal’. But just because, for now at least, life isn’t what it previously was, doesn’t mean there aren’t new possibilities and opportunities to be explored.

This is the message of Coca‑Cola’s new campaign, Open Like Never Before, which is encouraging all people to live those exact words, be ‘open, like never before’, think differently, embrace change, and better appreciate what was perhaps previously taken for granted.

The campaign has been launched in collaboration with award-winning, London-born spoken word artist, George “The Poet” Mpanga, who has written an inspirational poem specifically for Open Like Never Before in this time of social and cultural change in a world forever changed by the global pandemic.

Check out the poem in the video below:

The campaign, which will run in Great Britain and across wider European markets from 1 August, will be specifically focused on supporting local businesses as they now begin to reopen their doors. This will include a hospitality venue support programme that will provide business owners with resources and expertise to create their own adverts, all through the innovative Ad Generator platform.

Also from August, the programme will provide venues with media budget and advertising space donated by Coca‑Cola to host their advert as a way to communicate that they are once again open for business.

Over $100 million donated

Open Like Never Before comes following our seven month pause in commercial advertising – the longest ever for Coca‑Cola – which saw us instead use our resources to support COVID-19 relief efforts around the world, and donate our advertising space, including the famous Piccadilly Sign, to charity partners, Crisis and FareShare, to promote their fundraising messages. Together with our bottling partners and The Coca‑Cola Foundation, we’re proud to say that The Coca‑Cola Company has donated more than $100 million globally.

In Great Britain, as well as donating over 1.5 million drinks to frontline workers, we’ve provided financial support to our long-term partner FareShare, the UK’s leading charity food redistributor, to provide the equivalent of nearly two million healthy meals and over one million drinks to those that need them most.

From TV ads to unique Coca‑Cola brand experiences, explore more of our campaigns through the years.