Coca Cola has found the perfect solution to antisocial behaviour – the red cone of shame. The UAE has the world’s highest smartphone penetration, and a huge proportion of young people are constantly checking their phone. In order to remind everyone of the importance of real life human interactions Coca Cola has created a light-hearted campaign to help counter smartphone addiction and take the social out of media and put it back into life.
Case study summary
• The UAE has the world’s highest smartphone penetration- something Coca-Cola wanted to highlight in a funny and memorable way
• Coca Cola worked with media agency Memac Ogilvy to come up with an innovative way to help those addicted to their smartphones – a cone of shame
• The YouTube video explaining the problem and the solution has been viewed over 8 million times
• The video won a silver award at the Dubai Lynx award in 2014
The challenge
Every month, the world spends 4 million years online. In the MENA region that represents 3 to 4 hours per person a day, and with the world’s highest smart phone penetration means there is very high mobile internet usage. A recent study showed that 18-34 year olds check their phone every 9 minutes, and feel lost if they are without it. They are a generation addicted to their phones. Coca Cola wanted to counter this addiction and remind the world about real moments shared with friends and family
The solution
Coca Cola worked with media agency Memac Ogilvy Dubai to create a great piece of spoofery - the social media guard. The ‘red cone of shame’ aimed to mimic the cones used by vets to stop animals opening wounds.
The cone ensures users stop staring at their phones and lift their heads to acknowledge real life humans; helping obsessive smartphone users to get on with their lives without constantly checking their phone for updates. The aim of the campaign is to remind everyone about undistracted, real moments shared with family and friends, something many have almost forgotten about.
The results
The YouTube video has been viewed over 8 million times and the campaign won a silver award at the 2014 Dubai Lynx awards (an award ceremony for the best creativity in communications in MENA / NAME).
