Coca Cola starts big campaign for Olympics: Red around the World

Beijing is coloring red. Yes, of course because of the colour red is from major importance to China. it referers too the red revolution. Tou know, Mao, the little red pocker book and so on.

But now Beijing and other places in China is coloured by Olympic Sponsor Coca Cola. Everywhere you can see red billboards at bus stops, a red kiosk sits on a popular shopping street, and a sprawling red building is under construction on the nexus of next month's Games, Olympic Green.

The sea of red is part of a record Olympic marketing blitz by Coca Cola. The sponsorship, with an estimated price of $75 million to $90 million underscores Coke's heavy bet on China - already Coke's fourth-largest market. Consumer spending on soft drinks in the country has more than doubled since 2001, and executives expect China will eventually surpass the US as the company's top market. Source: Sydney Morning Herald

In the official pressrelaese of Coca Cola:

For Coke the Beijing Olympics presents an opportunity to build its brand among China's 1.3 billion people, while attaching its name to an event that gets worldwide attention and often transcends the field of play. "The Olympics goes beyond sport," said Kevin Tressler, Coca-Cola's director of worldwide sports and entertainment marketing. "There's a warm feeling that comes to people when they think about the Olympics." Sydney Morning Herald

So far, nothing strange but then i found an article with some remarks on the Red Around the World campaign:

We received the poster art for our new China market slogan, "Red Around the World". We have some serious concerns about it. There appears to be a communication problem between our offices. This isn't uncommon with international connections, so we don't fault you. Basically, our biggest issue is, well there's a subtlety issue. It isn't a very subtle graphic. In fact it seems a little satirical, almost subversive. If you weren't the same maverick ad firm that rehabilitated Exxon and propped up Halliburton, I would say you were fucking with us. But you are, so I'm not.

This is really a strange promotion campaign of Coca Cola. It referers also to the Orch-Relay over the world. You know that gave a lot of problems in Tibet and many other cities. People everywhere protested against the Chinese cruelties against humans and animals. The campaign looks like a tribute of Coca Cola to the communistic system in China as wel to the great leader in the past, mister Red himself, Mao.

Well, they made there own Olympic Song around the Red around the World campaign.