100 Days of Leo Burnett, the Midwestern Master of Mascots DAY 50
Here’s today’s Leo:
“A good ad which is not run never produces sales.” — Leo Burnett
Wow, halfway to 100 Leo’s!
For today’s post, I think I’ll celebrate the halfway point with a link to my favorite ad of all time. If you don’t love this ad from 1971, you don’t have a soul:
“I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” was produced by Billy Davis and sung by the Hillside Singers — it became a hit pop song, but began its life as the commercial jingle. The Hillside Singers’ version was released as a successful single the same year.
And here’s the 1990 Super Bowl XXIV reunion version, featuring the original singers and their children, and culminating in a medley of “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” and the then-current “Can’t Beat the Real Thing” Coca-Cola jingle. Not quite as strong with the more strident commercial messaging and more precise product shots and precise editing (i.e. the editor is working too hard to make the point), but still pretty damn good:
The sheet music for “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)” continues to sell more than thirty years after the song was written.
I think I love the campaign because it’s got a great “It’s a Small World” and UNICEF celebration of global diversity:
