Coke Caravana Produções’ first Christmas film is A Bridge for Santa by Jose Roberto Torero. A 360 degree virtual reality world has been built around it by J.Walter Thompson Brazil and Google.
From this year on, Coca-Cola will issue an annual invitation to Brazilian filmmakers to make a Christmas film around its illuminated caravan (trucks) via its imaginary production company, Caravana Produções.
“More than a campaign, we conceived this project as an entertainment platform. We want to turn Coca-Cola’s Christmas Caravans into the main character of a story that is retold every year, touching consumers all over Brazil across several platforms,” explained Marcelo Páscoa, head of integrated marketing communication at Coca-Cola Brazil.
The first film is by author, journalist and filmmaker, Jose Roberto Torero, whose film Uma história de futebol, was nominated for an Oscar in 2001.
It’s a family tear jerker – because that’s what Christmas is about. Young Mathias tells his single dad that he believes Santa has never visited his town because its bridge is broken. You already know the rest of the story, but you will cry anyway. It’s beautifully directed by Fernando Grostein Andrade, founder of Spray Filmes.
The film made its debut at Kinoplex theatres in Brazil and will now run on cable TV and during an exclusive commercial break on Globo TV Network, as well as online. The story will also be incorporated into Coke’s Caravan parades in Brazil and Coke’s major regional efforts, such as the Natal Luz in Gramado, in Rio Grande do Sul.
“Our goal was to bring back the magic spirit of Christmas that Coca-Cola’s Christmas Caravans help revive, always inspiring us everywhere they go,” Ricardo John, J. Walter Thompson Brazil chief creative officer, noted.
To give the “magic spirit of Christmas” maximum impact, J. Walter Thompson Brazil has collaborated with Google, and will use Google’s virtual reality tool, Google Cardboard to produce a 360º animation created by Zombie Studio and Spray Filmes.
Paulo Garcia, co-founder and chief creative of Zombie Studio, commented, “It’s been very inspiring to bring together cinema, advertising and entertainment on this platform, an innovative format that mixes time, space and storytelling on TV and the Internet. We had only seen a few experiments in this segment, but nothing as complex as the scenery that we designed for this huge production, with 40 characters in action, each one of them having an exclusive one-minute animation.”
When people look into the Google Cardboard mounted on their phones, they will see a 360º scene showing different angles and parallel stories in the form of an animation, starting with the moment that Coca-Cola’s Caravan trucks arrive in the town where Mathias lives.
Campaign credits:
Agency: J. Walter Thompson Brasil
Advertiser: Coca-Cola
Chief creative officer: Ricardo John
Chief strategy officer: Fernand Alphen
Head of art: Fabio Simões
Head of digital: Fábio Simões
Creative directors: Gustavo de Lacerda & Gustavo Soares
Script: José Roberto Torero, Ricardo John & Gustavo Soares
Copywriters: Julia Velo, Ana Cavalcanti & Guilherme Nesti
Art directors: Gustavo de Lacerda, Pablo Lobo, Ricardo Kawano, Fernanda Sousa, Ilka Freitas, Peu Coelho, Pedro Ricci
Production Company: Spray Filmes
Director: Fernando Grostein Andrade
Co-direction: Raoni Rodrigues
Photography direction: Blasco Giurato
Photography direction (2nd unit): Bruno Vieira
Executive producers: Luiz Ferriani Nogueira & Roberta Reigado
Post production: Zombie Studio Dot Cine
Animation production: Zombie Studio
Sound Production: B.A.start
Original Soundtrack: Lucas Lima
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