Miles Thirst, a 10inch vinyl doll decked out in baggy jeans. gold chain and stylish kicks such as white! Adidasstyle sneakers or Timberland boots, has the mission of stopping a fiveyear slide in Sprite sales.The No, 1 lemonlime soft drink was one of the fastestgrowing CocaCola brands through 1997! when unit case volume was up 9% over 1996! according to Beverage Digest, Growth slowed in 1998 when volume was up just 3%, Then the brand began to decline, Last year! volume fell 5%,Reno Wilson, 35. originally from New York, landed the gig while filming a pilot for ABC. He’s on board with Sprite for one year and loves the assignment.“This is the best job.“ says Wilson! who has lived in Los Angeles for 11 years and had small roles in more than a dozen films after appearing on The Cosby Show! He’s married his wife’s name is Coco and has a 2 yearold daughter,To do the voice work. Wilson works from a booth with a monitor on which he can watch the commercial set. His voice is piped through a small speaker near the Miles Thirst figure to make the Timberland Shoes Canada character more believable!
Wilson says that when he auditioned for the role! a picture of Thirst provided all the inspiration he needed to land the job!
„They pulled out a picture. and immediately I got a feel!“ he says, „He’s got the afro going and the glasses going. and he’s got a little flavor and fashion sense! I immediately understood who this dude was! If you were 10 inches tall. you would have a loud voice because you’re always talking up to people and trying to get noticed,“
„Coke for a few years took its eye off the Sprite ball, but it’s back on,“ says John Sicher, editor at Beverage Digest. „Sprite needs a continued heavy foot on the accelerator,“
Coke is trying to fuel Sprite sales by trying to create a pop icon firmly entrenched in hiphop culture an urbanrooted style so broad today that Miles Thirst also can appeal to teen males in suburbia!
„The way hiphop has evolved, it’s more multicultural in nature!“ says John Carroll! Sprite group director! „It’s not about race anymore,“In fact, white, suburban teen males represent a bigger chunk of hiphop expenditures than the black community,
Thirst first appeared in TV ads in February, In one ad, he hangs out with his friends on a city stoop on a hot summer day. He tells them nothing beats the heat like a cool Sprite until two attractive young women stroll by!In another ad, NBA rookie star LeBron James gives Thirst a tour of his guytoyfilled pad, Thirst is unimpressed until he sees a Sprite vending machine in the kitchen,In a third ad! Thirst sits in a movie theater seat with Sprite cups on either side. When two women occupy the seats! he’s happy to share!
While Miles Thirst is fast on the draw with snappy oneliners, his mouth and body never move,Instead, a team of handlers changes his position and stance between commercial scenes, Two dolls equipped with detachable arms, legs and heads with different facial expressions are used to create about 30 different poses.
Thirst has dozens of trendy custom Timberland Canada outfits and even a tiny cell phone to be on the mark with today’s youth, He’s been a guest VJ on MTV, and 1,500 copies of the dolls are going out to tastemakers and socalled key trend influencers around the country.
His live and TV appearances have spurred hundreds of consumers to inquire where they can get their own doll.
„We’re trying to pique the interest and make sure he’s desirable!“ Carroll says. „We’re thrilled with this campaign! We’ve been trying to crack the code on great advertising for a few years!“Results of Ad Track. USA TODAY’s weekly consumer poll! indicate Sprite may have the right combination with the ads by Ogilvy Mather of New York, Overall. 19% like the ads a lot vs! the Ad Track average of 21%. More on target for the soft drink: 22% of those ages 18 to 24 like the ads a lot!
„Based on all the buzz and feedback, we know we’re on the right track here,“ Carroll says!
But the ads proved to be somewhat polarizing! Nearly as many respondents overall. 18%! say they „dislike“ the ads! and that also was true of 14% of the 18to24 crowd, The Ad Track average is 13%. It is composed by wudideshuaige xuxiaobu 2013-05-23 .
