The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2024
Coca-Cola celebrates shops' hand-painted logos — Coke-Creating wins El Ojo Grand Prix
Instead of policing 'fake' shop logos, Coke validated hundreds as co-creations — winning El Ojo's Vía Pública Grand Prix and Best Latin Idea for the World.
Coca-Cola
What it had to solve
For decades, small shops and street artists in markets like Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia had painted their own versions of the Coca-Cola logo — technically infringing the trademark, and proof of affection. The brand could have policed them.
How it works
For years, shopkeepers and street artists around the world had hand-painted their own versions of the Coca-Cola logo — imperfect, joyful, deeply local versions that were, strictly speaking, trademark infringements. 'Thanks for Coke-Creating' (also called 'Every Coca-Cola is Welcome') chose to celebrate them instead of correcting them.
The campaign, developed by WPP Open X and led by VML with Essence Mediacom and Ogilvy PR, searched out local shops in markets including Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Australia and the US, then validated hundreds of the co-creations on a global platform. The makers' work went up on OOH and print — including New York's Times Square — alongside a content series of films and interviews with the store owners and artists behind the signs.
The idea reframed the brand's own canon: the 'unauthorized' logos became proof of how deeply Coca-Cola sits in local culture, and the campaign itself was a co-creation across VML offices in Mexico, Brazil, the US and Indonesia. At El Ojo 2024 it won the Gran Ojo Vía Pública and the Gran Ojo Mejor Idea Latina para el Mundo.
Why it lands
- The remixed logos were the ultimate user-generated content — decades of unpaid, voluntary brand love already hanging on shopfronts.
- Validating the fakes turned a legal threat (cease-and-desist) into goodwill, making trademark enforcement the enemy of the story rather than its trigger.
- Putting the makers' work in Times Square and print gave the audience authorship — the campaign was theirs, not just Coke's.
- Working across six countries and multiple agencies made the campaign itself an example of the collaboration it preached.
What it did
Won the Gran Ojo Vía Pública and the Gran Ojo Mejor Idea Latina para el Mundo at El Ojo 2024; turned decades of trademark 'infringement' into a global brand campaign and earned goodwill.
What you can take
Before policing how your brand gets remixed, read the remix as love: embracing amateur interpretations turns trademark violations into earned media and gives the audience authorship.
Since then
The campaign travelled as a global platform: the OOH and print push was paired with films and interviews about local store owners, and 'Thanks for Coke-Creating' became one of Coca-Cola's most-awarded works of 2024 at international festivals, including the Gran Ojo Vía Pública and Best Latin Idea para el Mundo at El Ojo.
Sources
- El Gran Ojo Vía Pública fue para Thanks for Coke-Creating de VML
- "Thanks for Coke-Creating", de VML, conquistó el Gran Ojo Vía Pública 2024
- Thanks for Coke-Creating
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe the brief you are staring at, and see who has been given the same problem.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card