Coke, Justice, Happiness and Stress
Coca Cola has an initiative called “Club Coke.” For the 2009 edition of The Club Coke they have teamed up with Ed Banger’s So-Me and Justice, which also ‘marks the 5th anniversary of the Club Coke initiative.’
I usually think of Pedro W, So-Me, Justice and the rest of the Ed Banger crew as the kings of Collab’s. But I’m not really feeling this recent collaboration between Ed Banger and Coke.
The record label has a history of successful collaborations with establised brands. This is mainly due to the fact that the brands they team up with are in some way relevant to the daily life and culture of Ed Banger and their fans. This way they seem credible in the eyes of their followers, allthough it’s easy for street/underground labels/brands to lose credibility when partnering with corporate brands. Ed Banger has always managed to walk this thin line and stay authentic.
This Coke/Ed Banger collaboration relates to a question I think is really interesting, how can niche and sub-culture brands gain popular mainstream success without diserting its traditional core consumers and thereby lose authenticity?
I’m not trying to over-analyze this, but it’s hard to see the common values between this:
and this:
