Coke will return to the Super Bowl this year "with a new spot" after re-running an "old ad in last season's Super Bowl," according to E.J. Schultz of AD AGE. A spokesperson "declined to provide creative details or to identify the agency handling it." Wieden + Kennedy has "typically overseen Coke's Super Bowl work," but the marketer has recently given Fitzco/McCann, Atlanta, "several high-profile assignments," including its '17 summer campaign. For Super Bowl LI, Coke "ran a spot by Fitzco touting Coke and food pairings that had previously aired." Coke also "used a pre-game slot to resurrect" its Super Bowl XLVIII in '14 ad "It's Beautiful," which "features people of different ethnicities signing 'America the Beautiful' in languages from Spanish to Hindi." Although it was a rerun, that spot "garnered significant media attention because it came amid the intense immigration debate set off" at the beginning of President Trump's term (ADAGE.com, 12/4).
BABY, YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR: AD AGE's Schultz also noted Kia is "coming back to the Super Bowl for the ninth straight year." Kia will "run one spot" by David&Goliath, Calif. But a spokesperson declined to "elaborate on creative details or the length of the ad." The brand "went for laughs in last season's game" with an ad starring actress Melissa McCarthy plugging the environmental credentials of the '17 Niro hybrid crossover as she "attempted to save a whale, a tree and a rhinoceros." The spot was called "Hero's Journey" and "won USA Today's Super Bowl Ad Meter." Kia is the first automotive brand to "confirm its ad buy" for Super Bowl LII, but others "will surely follow." Honda has "already confirmed it is not coming back" (ADAGE.com, 12/4).
