Welcome to 'The Coke Side of Life'...

Things are not all rosy and blissful these days at The Coca-Cola Company. Consumption is down, the cola market is flat, and Pepsi has been kicking Coke's butt in sales. Is it a case of Coke making errors and Pepsi doing everything right? I tend to think it's more of a cautious strategic business plan that Pepsi is using lately... but now Coke is trying to get back in the game with a new feel-good campaign called 'The Coke Side of Life'.

These days, there are so many commercials - we're bombarded with them on hundreds of channels. Is there an ad out there that will stand the test of time and be remembered for decades to come - like the Coca-Cola 'Mean Joe Green' commercial? Or what about the Michael Jackson Pepsi spots from the 1980s? Coke and Pepsi have struggled for years to come up with that next 'hit' commercial that gets people flocking to their local beverage aisle to pick up a case of their favorite brand... or better still, convert a Coke drinker to Pepsi or vice-versa. Pepsi has come much closer than Coke in recent years to creating that memorable commercial 'spot' with their Britney Spears 'Joy of Pepsi' campaign. Memorable, yes.... and Coca-Cola had... don't remember? Me either.

So now Coca-Cola is banking on 'The Coke Side of Life' to bring its billion dollar empire back into the top-of-mind-awareness of cola consumers. Initially there are 15 commercial spots hitting the airwaves. Some are brillant, and a few are just plain weird. My favorite is titled: "Fountain Pour". I'd nickname it: "Sip Stealing". You might have seen it already: a guy fills up his cup at the Coca-Cola fountain, takes a quick sip, then fills it back up again without being noticed. The other one that made me smile is titled "Ringtone". It's cute, sharp, and definitely gets the message across.

Will these new spots do what they're designed to do? Only you, as cola consumers, can answer that question.