Coca-Cola's New Print Ads Have Product Shots You Can Almost Hear

You finally know what ASMR is (thanks, advertising!). But how about synesthesia? 

Synesthesia is when one sense accidentally triggers another sense—for example, when you look at something but suddenly have the sense that you’re hearing it. 

Coca-Cola and agency David are playing around with the idea of synesthesia in a new print and billboard campaign running in Europe, in which the viewer is invited to “hear” the close-up images of the product—the “fizzing” of soda bubbles, the uncapping of a Coke bottle, and the opening of a can. 

“Try not to hear this,” says the copy. 

See the three ads here: 

The ads certainly work on some level—the recognizable product, captured at a moment where you would hear a sound, does naturally encourage some kind of auditory sensation. Whether it really fits the definition of synesthesia is another matter.

In a way, the work is most reminiscent of TBWAParis’ work for McDonald’s over the years, in which the product visuals are so iconic that they need barely any branding. (Coke, though, does of course slap its logo in the corner.)

“As one of the most iconic brands in the world with one of the highest top of mind, we have earned a place in people’s heads,” says Camilla Zanaria, content lead at Coca-Cola’s Central & Eastern Europe Business Unit. “With this campaign we are aiming to activate that sensorial memory from our consumers, challenging them to hear an image for the first time, finishing our ad in their heads.”

CREDITS

Agency: David the Agency
Client: The Coca-Cola Company
Managing Director / Global COO: Paulo Fogaça
Executive Creative Director: Ricardo Casal
Executive Creative Director: Juan Javier Peña Plaza
Associate Creative Director: Fernando Pellizzaro
Associate Creative Director: Jean Zamprogno
Art Director: Andy Tamayo
Copywriter: Alex Allen
Creative Coordinator: Cristina Cornejo Ayala
Head of Global Production: Veronica Beach
Producer: Renata Neumann
Producer: Ricardo Ceballos
Director of Strategy: Jon Carlaw
Senior Brand Planner: Matias Candia
Head of Account Management: Carmen Rodriguez
Account Director: Stefane Rosa
Account Supervisor: Jenny Gobel
Account Executive: Nneoma Chukwueke

The Coca-Cola Company:
Dmitry Muzychenko – CEE IMC Director
Sergey Sverzhinskiy  – CEE Creative and Content Excellence Director
Camilla Zanaria – CEE Coca-Cola Content Lead
Laura Legrenzi – CEE Coca-Cola Content Lead
Romain Mallard – Portfolio & Growth Marketing Director
Dimitris Xinotroulias – Sparkling Category Director
Milica Vulicevic Basorovic – Coca-Cola TM Director