Don't Work So Hard. Take It From Coca-Cola: 'The World Will Wait'

Enjoy loopy dental humor and cable-guy cray from Ogilvy

Open wide. Wider…

Some people can’t leave their jobs at the office—even dentists. That certainly holds for the DDS in the first spot below from Coca-Cola. He’s got a patient on his kitchen table who makes weird fish-noises. His wife is not amused.

But nothing’s quite what it seems in this astonishingly askew commercial that slots into Coke’s “The World Will Wait” push. That effort positions the beverage as a player in the fight against workaholism though unexpectedly edgy humor in a Lynchian vein.

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Ogilvy’s offices in Thailand and Singapore collaborated on the initiative, with Factory01 founder Wuthisak “Un” Anarnkaporn directing.

Next, a cable guy and a grandma bond as never before. As in the first advert, you won’t guess where this one’s going—via bucket-truck no less!

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“This campaign was nothing but fun to make, from script to shoot,” Grace Wong, senior art director at Ogilvy Singapore, tells Muse.

Casting was key, she says, as the characters had to ring true for regional viewers in Asia while seeming just a tad … off. “Even our patient on the table in ‘The Dentist’ had to be just right, despite us barely seeing his face.”

“And then there was getting Grandma to pull off a beautiful five-meter vertical Coke pour. She must have been a gymnast or parkour athlete because she was a natural. We nailed it much faster than expected.”

In fact, that flow was “All done practically with a tube to control the strength of the stream,” Wong says.

Both clips are crammed with memorably off-kilter visuals and oddball moments that reward repeat viewings. Keep working those lips! We love that dude.

As for the overall premise, “Work doesn’t end when we leave the office,” says Komkrib Chockchaikatanyu, director of creative and content at Coca-Cola Thailand.

“There’s always another email, call or distraction asking for our attention. Coca-Cola has always been part of the moments that bring people together, and ‘The World Will Wait’ is a reminder to put work aside, share a meal and a Coke, and be present with the people around us.”

Related: Timothée Chalamet Gets Dental Work, Plugs Kalshi