Whether Caf Cuba is revolutionary or not, its campaign surely is

Parle Agro announced its comeback into the cola market in September last year with Caf Cuba, a coffee-flavoured carbonated soft drink. In a market cluttered with the cola giants from around the world, how much of a mark would a coffee-flavoured cola make? It was left to be seen.

[caption id=“attachment_82518” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A still from the film[/caption]

Caf Cuba is set to launch nationally this summer, but the ‘Coffee Revolution’, a 360 degree integrated campaign by Creativeland Asia, is already here. And by integrated, it truly is integrated.

First comes the website www.cafecuba.in, with an MS DOS-type interface that takes you back to the 80s, when computers had monochromatic screens and everything was about command prompt. The site welcomes the ‘Comrade’ and tells users that a revolution is brewing. Press enter and he is told what the revolution is about.

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Animated figures (illustrated entirely from keyboard characters one would commonly use back in the 80s – *, +, =, @, :, x, / etc) come to life and thus begins the story behind the revolution. Caf Cuba has stemmed from the rebels who were tired of growing up in a world without choices, where they had to dress, eat and drink the way they were made to. They were unified in a single cause - to have a unique drink that wasn’t controlled by the ‘red, blue and white’ giants of the world. Thus, roasted coffee beans and a dash of fizz were united, resulting in a drink that gave them a rush to the head. And thus, Caf Cuba was born.

The website then moves on to the film, but not without entering a password. Users can enter the password basis the hint question, or ask @TheCubaGuy for it on Twitter. Entering the password takes one to the TVC, which has been shot in Cape Town, South Africa.

It opens to a huge cola truck, where a boy sits in a shanty intently doing some research. He prints out an image of a star and hands it over to another. Cut to the shot with the same man and two others in a lab with frothy liquids in beakers. Cut to the shot of a man making a drink can, with the aforementioned star on it. Next, the men are going to homes and secretly leaving cans of Cuba at doorsteps; cans are being passed among the youth with sleight of hand; Cuba is being stowed away in secret places in broad daylight; rebels are now being chased by the law; Cuba is being served at underground parties - every common sight of a cult rebellion is being seen on screen. The youth is rebelling with a rush to its head, and even cola trucks of other companies are being hijacked. In the end, the rebels are shown to go atop a cola giant’s building and override its neon sign with ‘Tasted Cuba Yet?’

Watch the TVC here:

The commercial for Caf Cuba is impactful; an additional bonus is the way the film is shot - clear, crisp cuts, great music with the ‘Requiem for a Dream’ type treatment to denote the rush to the head.
Will the product work? The onus of that is on Parle Agro, to make sure Caf Cuba is great enough to be purchased, repeatedly. But for starters, Creativeland Asia has made a campaign that will be noticed by the TG. Great stuff, CLA!

Credits:
Client Partner: Parle Agro
Creative Agency: Creativeland Asia
Creative Chairman: Sajan RaJ Kurup
Executive Creative Director: Anu Joseph
Design Director: Rruta Naik
Creative Director: Sanket Avlani
Copy Writer: Sajan RaJ Kurup
Art Director: Sanket Avlani
Operations Team: Jay Gala, Sejal Shrotri, Hitesh Ramrakhyani
Creative Team: Girish Narayandass, Radhika Suthankar, Sanuree Gomes, Manaswi Mohata, Divyanshu Bhadoria, Pranav Nayak, Mithun Rajam
Tech Team: Satya Shetty, Ankur Rander, Ritesh Rao
Production House: Ransom Films
Director: Bharat Sikka
Producer: Salil Khurana