I received an email from a reader of Beyond Urban Branding named Max from San Francisco. He sent me a link to the old school 2007 Sprite Voltron series.
I had forgotten about these manga styled commercials that used The Goodie Mob, Mack 10, Common, Fat Joe and the Godfather of Hip-Hop Afrika Bambaataa. But once I looked at them again, it is almost the perfect Hip-Hop campaign.
Why? There are many reasons. You could almost do a complete case study just on this ad as a platform for authenticity. I might have to do one just to show illustrate how thorough Sprite was with this one. But I will try to give you the "cliff notes" so to speak.
The rappers chosen all represented different regions and lyrical style within the Hip-Hop community. Some of them have exclusive fan bases. Goodie Mob represents fun, but politically minded rap from the South. Mack 10 represents the west coast underground scene. Fat Joe represents hardcore rap from Bronx, NY. Afrika Bambaataa represents the foundation of why all of the previous artists can do what they do. He's that important.If you don't know who he is, go do homework on him immediately.
The Voltron theme is fantastic because so many people from the Hip-Hop demographic grew up on Votron and or other manga styled cartoons like it. Plus it touches all of the comic books fans on GP (general principal) who love rap. These ads were shot well, paced well and not a single artist or image was wasted. I only super nitpicky thought about this ad is that someone bigger than Mack 10 could have represented the west. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and some other come to mind. He wasn't a bad pick, I just think there may have been better.
The best part of it, is that Bambaataa shows the Hip-Hop community (and the world) how unity helps conquer negativity. This is a positive angle for the brand to be aligned with. They essentially showed you the biggest names in Hip-Hop unifying to save the hood from a threat. Who does not want to see that? You know, when Sprite does a Hip-Hop ad wrong, they really blow it. But they get it right- its undeniable. Click below and see for yourself.
-Beyond Urban Branding
P.S. If you would like Beyond Urban Branding to review an urban ad that you liked please email us @ beyondurban@gmail.com
P.S.S. Next week we'll be looking exclusively at technology ads...Its gonna be fun!!!
I had forgotten about these manga styled commercials that used The Goodie Mob, Mack 10, Common, Fat Joe and the Godfather of Hip-Hop Afrika Bambaataa. But once I looked at them again, it is almost the perfect Hip-Hop campaign.
Why? There are many reasons. You could almost do a complete case study just on this ad as a platform for authenticity. I might have to do one just to show illustrate how thorough Sprite was with this one. But I will try to give you the "cliff notes" so to speak.
The rappers chosen all represented different regions and lyrical style within the Hip-Hop community. Some of them have exclusive fan bases. Goodie Mob represents fun, but politically minded rap from the South. Mack 10 represents the west coast underground scene. Fat Joe represents hardcore rap from Bronx, NY. Afrika Bambaataa represents the foundation of why all of the previous artists can do what they do. He's that important.If you don't know who he is, go do homework on him immediately.
The Voltron theme is fantastic because so many people from the Hip-Hop demographic grew up on Votron and or other manga styled cartoons like it. Plus it touches all of the comic books fans on GP (general principal) who love rap. These ads were shot well, paced well and not a single artist or image was wasted. I only super nitpicky thought about this ad is that someone bigger than Mack 10 could have represented the west. Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and some other come to mind. He wasn't a bad pick, I just think there may have been better.
The best part of it, is that Bambaataa shows the Hip-Hop community (and the world) how unity helps conquer negativity. This is a positive angle for the brand to be aligned with. They essentially showed you the biggest names in Hip-Hop unifying to save the hood from a threat. Who does not want to see that? You know, when Sprite does a Hip-Hop ad wrong, they really blow it. But they get it right- its undeniable. Click below and see for yourself.
-Beyond Urban Branding
P.S. If you would like Beyond Urban Branding to review an urban ad that you liked please email us @ beyondurban@gmail.com
P.S.S. Next week we'll be looking exclusively at technology ads...Its gonna be fun!!!
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