Coca-Cola's first post-pandemic ad talks about real food and shared memories

Coca-Cola has released its first ad after the Coronavirus pandemic struck, and it's about families cooking and having a meal together. Sounds new? No, it isn't.

When you sit and watch this 90-second ad called 'The Great Meal', you do feel it's different not because of some fancy camera work, or out-of-the-world editing. Instead, it's because of the simplicity of the ad and the role a bottle of Coke plays in diverse families across the world.

According to shots.net, the ad was shot remotely and features 13 families, couples, housemates in households from eight different cities around the world, including Orlando, Shanghai, Lisbon, Kiev, London, Mumbai, and Mexico City. The people in the film cook their own food and follow their own recipes. And, the music track is Sabali by Mali duo Amadou & Mariam, from the Grammy-nominated album 'Welcome to Mali'.

Actress Soleil Patterson voices the ad, and when she says, "From now on, we're not going to leave anything on our plates because we've learned to savour the moments that were always there," it is striking. Unlike other ads, which take a look at the future with hope, Coca-Cola acknowledges that what we need has always been near us, and it's only now that we've learnt to value it.

And if there was one shot that arrested us, it was the scene when the Coke bottle falls and the drink spills on the wooden table... the feeling of 'ahhh...' a sign of how ingrained the drink is in households across the world.

As per The Drum, "'The great meal', the latest Coca-Cola anthem film that launches its new food communication platform, 'Together tastes better'."

The ad was created by Anomaly and directed by Kim Gehrig.