Title	ALI COLA. THE COLA IN SKIN COLORS.
Brand	ALI COLA
Product/Service	COLA
Entrant	LOVED Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation	LOVED Hamburg, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Armin Jochum	thjnk AG	CCO
Mieke Haase	loved gmbh	Managing Director
Karl Wolfgang Epple, Matthäus Frost	thjnk AG	Creative Director
Matthäus Frost	thjnk AG	Art Direction
Karl Wolfgang Epple	thjnk AG	Copywriter
Ilker Yilmazalp, Philipp Stamer	loved gmbh	Account Manager
Teresa Köster	thjnk AG	Editorial Department
Dirk Weyer	-	Photographer
David Kowalski	-	Post Production
Louisa Bartholdi, Manuel Caliebe, Hilko Wiegmann	thjnk AG	Final Artwork

The Campaign

Our idea was no advertising campaign, but pr via a product innovation: the world’s first cola that comes in different skin colors. They look different, but they all taste the same. Just like people: We look different outside – but we’re all the same inside. An entertaining pro-tolerance statement. No special edition, but a serious relaunch, challenging the cola industry and the people’s prejudices towards things (and people) that look different.

Creative Execution

The relaunch of the cola started with changing the product to six different skin colors. Since the design idea of skin colors is the focus, the packaging is reduced to the minimum. No conventional large labels, but only a white neck label without any frills. The relaunch was accompanied by a print and out-of-home campaign portraying people raising their ALI COLA bottles to eachother. Not only the different ALI COLA colors, but also people with different skin color, different sex, old, young, tattooed, etc. The campaign parallelly conquered Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, engaging people to post their own photos and ideas using the hashtags #toleranzschmeckt and #cheerstotolerance. Press and blogs discussed the topic and the product worldwide. We also activated beverage merchants and kiosks. They received a special mailing, consisting of a sample 6 pack and a brochure with positive and negative social media reactions to our polarizing concept.

Press, TV, blogs, influencers and euphoric, but also angry comments proof that we struck a chord. ALI COLA polarizes – showing the relevance for a pro-tolerance statement. ALI COLA hits a nerve in rough political times and moves the issue of tolerance back into the consciousness of the people. A topic that is now more important than ever, particularly in the context of the refugee crisis, German right-winged party AfD and Trump.

ALI COLA – The cola in skin colors – is not only an advertising idea, but a relationship-building idea that shows how creativity is relevant in bringing a brand to life and how creative agencies and clients can co-work to improve a product. ALI COLA is a pro-tolerance statement in rough political times, creating both: an innovative product and a cultural moment when it’s most needed in Europe and the world. The campaign is executed across multiple media, involving people and press and engaging them to discuss the topic and carry the cola as a pro-tolerance statement.

ALI COLA mainly targets the German society. It’s primary aim is to change the way Germans think about foreigners and people with different skin colors. Since Germany is the second most popular migration destination in the world, one out of five Germans has at least partial roots outside of Germany. Over the past two years Germany has welcomed more than 1 million asylum-seekers – an immigration wave that has changed Europe’s largest economy. Of course, it also raised racism and prejudice. Since Germany has a very dark past considering racism, our society has a special responsibility to be a role model for Europe.