The Coca-Cola Company and Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai have joined hands to develop a new art and digital campaign that celebrates a unique approach to “happiness creation.” O&M teamed up with Chinese photographer Kurt Tang, who returned to China after years of living abroad to find a dispiriting sense of isolation and loneliness that afflicts many Chinese living in the country’s major metropolises. Determined to do something about it, Tang walked through the streets of the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and invited complete strangers to come together and share a moment of connection in front of his camera lens.
A young cyclist, a grandmother sitting in a park, diners seated at separate tables in a restaurant and many others all became part of the “Friendship Experiment,” in which these chance meetings and potential friendships were captured by Tang and developed into a photography series that exhibited at the Fei Gallery in Guangzhou. In addition to the photo exhibition, the photographs and “making-of” videos are being shared online through Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Network” digital channels and through Chinese social media, including Sina Weibo and Renren.
Debuted in Guangzhou, the “Friendship Experiment” is being shared online as of April 22.
Subsequent “experiments” are under consideration for Shanghai, Beijing, and Singapore.
Project Title: Coca-Cola Friendship Experiment
Client: The Coca-Cola Company
Creative Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai
Chief Creative Officer: Graham Fink
Executive Creative Director: Sean Sim, Francis Wee
Creative Director: Golf Nuntawat
Client Supervisor: Richard Cotton, Victor Vieira, Ming Alterman
Art Director: Jasphine Chew
Copywriter: Sean Sim
Photographer: Kurt Tang
Account Directors: Martin Murphy, Oli Goulden, Anita Beveridge
Public Relations: Fengmei Liang, Xiufan Huang, Qingxin Li, Lisha Deng, Yanyan Wu
Agency Producer: William Huen
Production House: Carrot Films
Director: William Dhawan
Producer: Steven Ng
Exposure: Print, Digital, Event
