To mark the 110th anniversary of its iconic Contour bottle, Coca-Cola is turning the spotlight—quite literally—onto its shadow. The brand has launched a striking minimalist campaign titled Shadows, developed in collaboration with agencies Open X (WPP), Ogilvy UK, VML Berlin, and EssenceMediacom. Without displaying a single logo, name, or even the actual product, Coca-Cola manages to evoke recognition and emotion through the simple silhouette of its century-old bottle design.
In the world of advertising, very few brands can afford to disappear entirely from view and still remain unmistakable. Yet Coca-Cola achieves exactly that. With Shadows, the company banks solely on the visual strength of its bottle’s profile—a design conceived in 1916 with one goal: to be instantly recognizable, even if shattered or felt in the dark.
Over a century later, that goal is more than fulfilled. The new campaign features clean, summery visuals: the shadow of the bottle falling across sunlit tiles, grass, or painted walls. There’s no bottle in sight—only its shadow and a single word: Disfruta (“Enjoy”). It’s branding distilled to its purest form, creating an emotional connection without saying much at all.
Beyond paying homage to the brand’s past, Shadows links Coca-Cola to present-day feelings—sun-drenched afternoons, relaxing moments, the chilled fizz of a shared soda. The silhouette becomes more than a design—it’s a trigger for shared memories and seasonal joy.
The campaign also aligns with Coca-Cola’s global “Real Magic” platform, which focuses on celebrating everyday emotional moments. In a creative twist, the digital visuals will be dynamic, changing with the sun’s position and movement throughout the day. This adds a poetic layer to the campaign, turning static posters into living, responsive experiences.
What Coca-Cola proves once again is that true brand power doesn’t always need loud visuals or overt messaging. With Shadows, the company leans into collective memory and sensory nostalgia, inviting people to feel rather than see. A simple shadow becomes enough to spark thirst, recall a taste, or summon a feeling.
Jules Chalkley, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy UK, describes the campaign as “a powerful reminder of Coca-Cola’s freshness, joy, and timelessness.” Meanwhile, Dan Treichel credits inspiration from the original 1915 design brief—which demanded a bottle so distinct it could be recognized “even broken, in the dark... or by its shadow.” Over a century later, that brief still guides one of the most iconic visual identities in the world.
With Shadows, Coca-Cola doesn't just celebrate a bottle—it celebrates its place in culture, memory, and emotion.
