Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This Coca-Cola’s television ad featuring the infectious “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” and considered by many to be “the world’s most famous ad,” first took America by storm in 1971.
In the ad, a camera pans across faces of all shapes, colors and ethnicities, as they sing from a hilltop in Manziana, Italy, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” When the ad was produced in 1971, it cost $250,000, it was reported it was the world’s most expensive commercial at the time.
Created by Bill Backer who was the creative director on the Coca-Cola account for McCann Erickson, a global advertising agency. When he was grounded in Ireland, he had been en route to London to meet with the account’s music director Billy Davis. The two, alongside songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, were to come up with some radio commercials for Coke. Some of the music was already written, but the lyrics remained elusive.
The song hit radio stations on Feb. 12, 1971, and it gained immediate popularity. DJs immediately began receiving calls asking them to play the jingle, as if it were a song by The Doors or the Jackson 5. It was so popular, it began to affect the pop charts. The Hillside Singers had recorded the original vocals, and that version peaked at number 13. Backer had the New Seekers record a slightly different version of the song, titled “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony),” which peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, according to Billboard.
Bill Backer interviewed about "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke": youtube.com/watch?v=tSNU1TvF4pc
NOTE: This video is posted strictly for educational purposes and is posted under Fair Use with Creative Commons strictly for Educational purposes only and no claim to copyright ownership. This posted solely to assist current and future advertising students.
This Coca-Cola’s television ad featuring the infectious “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” and considered by many to be “the world’s most famous ad,” first took America by storm in 1971.
In the ad, a camera pans across faces of all shapes, colors and ethnicities, as they sing from a hilltop in Manziana, Italy, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” When the ad was produced in 1971, it cost $250,000, it was reported it was the world’s most expensive commercial at the time.
Created by Bill Backer who was the creative director on the Coca-Cola account for McCann Erickson, a global advertising agency. When he was grounded in Ireland, he had been en route to London to meet with the account’s music director Billy Davis. The two, alongside songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, were to come up with some radio commercials for Coke. Some of the music was already written, but the lyrics remained elusive.
The song hit radio stations on Feb. 12, 1971, and it gained immediate popularity. DJs immediately began receiving calls asking them to play the jingle, as if it were a song by The Doors or the Jackson 5. It was so popular, it began to affect the pop charts. The Hillside Singers had recorded the original vocals, and that version peaked at number 13. Backer had the New Seekers record a slightly different version of the song, titled “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony),” which peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, according to Billboard.
Bill Backer interviewed about "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke": youtube.com/watch?v=tSNU1TvF4pc
NOTE: This video is posted strictly for educational purposes and is posted under Fair Use with Creative Commons strictly for Educational purposes only and no claim to copyright ownership. This posted solely to assist current and future advertising students.
