Celebrating Advertising History

On January 18, 1971, Bill Backer, creative director for McCann Erickson advertising agency, was flying to London to collaborate with two other songwriters, Billy Davis and Roger Cook, on several radio advertisements for The Coca-Cola Company. Due to heavy fog at Heathrow International Airport, Backer's plane was diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where passengers, most complete strangers, were forced to share rooms at the only available hotel in the area, causing tempers to rise.

The following morning, Backer observed that even the angriest passengers were now laughing and exchanging stories over bottles of Coca-Cola in the airport coffee shop as they awaited their flight. This experience inspired a transformative idea about Coca-Cola's power to connect consumers all around the world. The result was the most famous line of the commercial's song, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company," which Backer captured on a paper napkin.

Upon finally arriving into London, Backer collaborated with Davis and Cook working through the night to complete the lyrics. The following day, the team recorded the track with the New Seekers, a popular Australian singing group, drawing on the group's trademark folk/pop style to perfect the song. The completed ad was shipped to U.S. radio stations where it quickly fizzled. Coca-Cola bottlers didn't like the ad and refused to purchase airtime on local radio stations.

Believing that the song needed a visual aspect to bring it to life McCann Erickson convinced executives at The Coca-Cola Company to proceed with the making of a television commercial. The Company eventually committed a budget of $250,000 for the filming - at the time one of the largest budgets ever spent on a commercial.

Backer spent the next several weeks seeking out creative ideas for the commercial, settling on the concept proposed by McCann art director Harvey Gabor of a "First United Chorus of the World." His vision was that of a group of international youth each dressed in attire representing their country and singing the song on a green hilltop.

In early March 1971, a McCann production team set out to shoot the ad on the cliffs of Dover on England's southern coast. The production team cast several thousand British school children for the chorus and 65 principals who would be seen at close range. For several days, cast members rehearsed lip synching the New Seekers version of the song in preparation for filming, which was set to begin on April 8. But three days of constant rain, with more forecasted, forced the team to abandon its plans. McCann decided to move the shoot to Rome, Italy, where they ultimately completed the project - but not without more problems.

After assembling a new cast, overcoming another rain delay and watching some twelve hundred thirsty school children scurry down the hill to get more Coke from the prop truck, filming was complete…or so it was thought. When the team developed the film it was discovered that the footage was "fatally" flawed as a result of unforeseen lighting and technical issues - none of it was salvageable. As if that weren't enough, the female lead singer informed the crew that she was eloping and wouldn't be available for any additional filming. A British nanny working in Rome was discovered two days before the final shoot by producers while pushing a baby carriage. She declined the opportunity at first, but was finally persuaded to take the lead role.

Facing dwindling budget and pressing time constraints, McCann cut the youth chorus from 1,200 to 500; hired a local Italian film company to shoot the ad; scouted out a new hillside with better lighting; and began production yet again. The opening scene was shot at a horse racetrack outside of Rome forcing unusual camera angles during the opening scene as the director tried to avoid having telephone wires in the background of the shots; the rest of the commercial was shot on the hilltop.

In July 1971, the completed ad was released in the U.S. to an unprecedented response that surprised everyone involved. By November 1971, The Coca-Cola Company received more than 10,000 letters - the largest volume of mail the Company has received on any one subject - from consumers enthusiastically responding to the commercial. Demand for the song was soaring. People were calling radio stations asking them to play commercial and calling TV stations to find out when the ad was scheduled to air.

The song "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" and the accompanying commercial aired just as the world was healing from the turbulent 1960s; it connected with and captured the imagination of an entire generation. To this day, advertising surveys continue to rank "Hilltop" as one of the best and most memorable commercials of all time.

The Coca-Cola Company has taken inspiration from the spot a number of times over the years, including a holiday-themed rendition in 1977, a reunion ad featuring several original cast members supporting the "Can't Beat the Real Thing" campaign in 1990. This year, Coca-Cola in South Africa will reprise the song - mixing the New Seekers soundtrack with various young South African artists - to create a radio ad supporting the current "Coke Side of Life" campaign.