The Advertising Gods Must Be Crazy

In a bizarre, crazy, unexpected and downright strange twist of events, I’ve received word that BLAK COFFEE isn’t eligible for Coke’s short film competition. Granted, this probably doesn’t seem too surprising based on my last post about the entry deadline. What is surprising, however, is that my arch-nemesis Greenwich Mean Time isn’t to blame – it was my decision to feature a Coke product…in my Coke commercial. Check out the email below for a piece of corporate correspondence that’s borderline unbelievable.

From: no-reply@coke.com

Date: September 1, 2006 11:57:40 AM PDT

To: land_elsewhere@mac.com

Subject: Your entry needs a little work

Hey landelsewhere,

Thanks for your Challenge entry. Unfortunately, we cannot include it on the site because your submission contains Coke content not licensed for use on Challenge content.

You may want to visit http://www.coca-cola.com/icokeplatform/home.htm?scid=studio&cid=1?=en_US and click on Full Details or Challenge Rules to view entry requirements and restrictions.

You still have time to edit your entry, or create a whole new one – so go ahead and give it another shot. We look forward to seeing your new take.

Coca-Cola

I choose to believe that this email was written by a guy whose name is actually Coca-Cola.

Now here’s the thing. If you follow the link and download the 14 pages of rules for the challenge, you’ll find that the only mention of licensing restrictions is as follows:

Submissions must not contain any commercial content that promotes any product or service other than that of Coca-Cola.

Since my entry was a Coke commerical, I’m not really certain how to respond to this aside from saying that the advertising gods must, indeed, be crazy (a little obscure, but c’mon – the movie was about a Coke bottle.) If anyone needs me, I’ll be working on figuring out how to advertise a product without ever showing or mentioning it. Wish me luck.