The original Coca Cola Happiness Factory commercial is now several years old, but the tale of this animated world is still unfolding and continues to delight. The Happiness Factory series is the genius collaboration from ad agency Wieden+Kennedy and creative studio Psyop that takes us to a magical world beyond the Coca-Cola vending machine.
Coca Cola has recently launched Happiness Factory 3 which illustrates the uplift factor of Coca Cola and how it revitalizes both the drinker; and the lovable inhabitants of the Happiness Factory.
This latest spot is part of an integrated campaign that includes radio promotions, online social networking; and an innovative partnership with Xbox. In addition the commercial features a track created by a supergroup comprised of Cee-lo, Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy, Brendon Urie from Panic at the Disco, Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes and r’n’b sensation Janelle Monae.
Happiness Factory 3 follows on from the original Happiness Factory spot, Happiness Factory II the Movie s and a behind the scenes Mokumentary.
Happiness Factory stories from the Coca Cola, Wieden+Kennedy and Psyop collective, bring much gladness and a message of positivity to our presently troubled world. In this special CGNews feature article we revisit each of the animated shorts in the series.
HAPPINESS FACTORY – ORIGINAL
The original spot begins with live action footage of a man putting money into a Coke vending machine slot. The camera follows the coin as it rolls down a chute, down the side of a mountain and disappears into a waterfall. We are now in the magical animated world of the Happiness Factory .
Large flying creatures with rotating blades carry an empty bottle to be filled by a tube suspended from the sky. Small fluffy creatures with large lips kiss the full bottle with great affection before the iconic red screw cap is catapulted and secured tightly into place.
Next the bottle travels through a wintery landscape where it is cooled by snowmen and icicles and then dropped through a hole in the ice. Finally the bottle makes its way through a hero parade, serenaded by marching bands and fireworks before it is rolled out into the vending machine chute.
” Our visual premise was one of blending machinery and natural elements, within which we added all these exotic creatures performing their particular functions. From some initial ideas about a ‘factory,’ we moved on to this insanely epic fantasy landscape. We suspended all rules of objective reality and focused on getting this bottle delivered in the most ridiculously large and crazy way possible. We discovered that the spot was more about all the characters than the factory process, and that was the key to it’s success.” Kylie Matulick, Director, Psyop.
HAPPINESS FACTORY MOKUMENTARY
The award winning Coca-Cola commercial Happiness Factory now opens its doors and takes you ‘behind the magical scenes’ with this clever and amusing e-documentary. Get to know all your favourite characters including the Luv Puppies, Chinoinks and Wendy The Majorette. Some of the voices are reported to be portrayed by actual Coca-Cola employees.
“We party like it’s 2999 every time someone wants a Coke. Which is all the time. But I never get tired of watching the Poppers being shot like confetti over the parade . . . you know, the parade which carries the bottle to the customer. We never get to see them, of course. The customer. But the fact that the party never stops must mean they like The Coke Side of Life.” Wendy The Majorette.
HAPPINESS FACTORY II: THE MOVIE
Happiness Factory The Movie tells the tale of what happens when the Happiness Factory runs out of Coke. On 14 August 2007, this special animation feature was screened to a crowd of more than 100 glamorous avatars and media from 16 countries. The red-carpet premiere for this event took place in the Coke Cinema on Happiness Boulevard in the virtual world of Second Life.
HAPPINESS FACTORY 3
The most recent spot in the series begins with a weary student approaching a Coke vending machine, yawning as he places his coin in the money slot. The yawn is contagious and is passed on to the Happiness Factory workers beyond.
Each of the magical characters catch the drowsiness in turn and the normally busy and upbeat world of the Happiness Factory slows down to a sleepy unproductive pace. Before they reach a full halt The Majorette pulls herself together, claps her hands and brings forth a thousand mechanical arms from the surrounding hillsides bearing chilled bottles of Coca-Cola. The inhabitants of the Happiness Factory drink the coke with relish and, re-invigorated and happy, head back to work.
CREDITS FOR HAPPINESS FACTORY (ORIGINAL)
Advertising Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Creative Directors: Al Moseley & John Norman
Copywriter: Al Moseley (Rick Condors)
Art Director: John Norman (Hunter Hindman)
Account Team: Sylvain Lierre & Ryan Lietaer
Producer: Sandy Reay
Assistant Producer: Kimia Farshidzad
Executive Creative Directors: Al Moseley & John Norman
Agency Executive Producer: Tom Dunlap
Agency Editor: Ken Rosenberg
Production Company: Psyop, New York
Directors: Todd Mueller & Kylie Matulick
Executive Producers: Justin Booth-Clibborn, Boo Wong
Producer: Mariya Shikher
Art Director/TD: David Chontos
Animation Director: Nicholas Weigel
Storyboard Artist/Designer: Ben Chan
Lighting/Rendering Lead: Saira Mathew
FX Lead: Pete Hamilton
Compositing Lead: Jason Conradt
Live Action Prod company: Seven Senses, Madrid
Director: Andreas Hoffman
Executive Producer: Alvaro Weber
Producer: Alvaro Weber
Director of Photography: David Carretero
Music: Human
Sound Design: Amber
Sound Designer: Bill Chesley
Executive Producer: Kate Gibson
Final Mix: Sound Lounge
Mixer: Philip Loeb
SOURCES
Dexigner.com article – The Coke Side of Life: PSYOP’s New Mega Spot For Coke by Levent Ozler 16 July 2006 (view here)
Veerle’s Blog – veerle.duoh.com blog by Veerle Pieters – 24 August 2007 (view here)
Motionographer Interview Article (view here)
Behind The Buzz article by Kori Ellis 16 March 2009 (view here)
The Wall Street Journal – Coca-Cola to Uncap ‘Open Happiness’ Campaign 14 January 2009 (view here)
Coca Cola Press Centre (view here)
*details of the unique integrated ad campaign for Happiness Factory 3 to be found here
RELATED LINKS
www.coca-cola.com
www.psyop.tv
www.wk.com
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