Coca-Cola has teamed up with George the Poet for its new ad, in which our hero asks ‘Who says we have to go back to normal?’.

George and Coke have been beaten to the punch by Durex on this conceit, but the idea has legs and is certainly worth exploring in a wider context. “What if the biggest change is you and me?” the engaging poet asks.

Hiring a professional lifts the poetry above the usual doggerel Adland serves up: it praises supermarket staff and teachers, and extols the virtues of a simpler life, with more family time and a little less travel. But it has big ideas too, about equality, freedom and strength in unity. Bottles of Coke are mostly consigned to the background, but they’re absolutely part of the positive, optimistic scenes.

Topics