Flings go better with Coke ...

By DITA DE BONI marketing writer

Just another naked night at the beach, innocent fun between naked male and female friends, the kind of thing we always do, totally naked and completely innocent - you know how it goes.

That's what the Coke folk would have us believe about the company's latest television commercial, aimed at the slightly less uptight Australasian market, featuring a group of yahooing naked youngsters "enjoying themselves" on a beach at night with only an airbrush to protect their naughties.

It may be Adam and Eve before the apple, but it's certainly not about sex and "it's not about nudity ... For us it's about spontaneous fun that we can have together," according to Susie te Velde, a spokeswoman for Coke in Australia.

Um, righto.

From a creative framework issued by Coke's Atlanta headquarters - with a tagline "life tastes good" - local adshops could translate the theme as they wished, says Ms te Velde.

McCann Erickson in Australia filmed its sexy stars frolicking starkers in the surf, then sent the footage to McCann in New Zealand to put its own music to and rearrange at its whim.

It's about connection in a new-age sense, says New Zealand country manager Arthur van Benthem: "We are telling stories that are natural and honest - not contrived or over the top in their theatricality - because Coca-Cola's power is in the authentic way it can connect people to themselves, to others, and to the culture of which it is part."

Ms te Velde is not sure if a worldwide panel screens the ads before they go to air in their respective countries, but it is obvious the buff backsides designed to appeal to this corner of the world have caused cautious delight to the company.

Is it Coke's intention to push the envelope compared with its usually sugary, family-oriented offerings?

"It's not risque. It's about simple fun that people have when they are with their friends," she stresses.

"It is consistent with our family image."

The commercial went to air on May 6 and is due to run for the next few months.