• by Danielle Oster , August 5, 2024

Vitaminwater turned to iconic New York director Spike Lee in its campaign highlighting the brand’s New York roots -- the brand’s first new campaign in around two years.

J. Darius Bikoff, who founded Energy Brands – the parent company of VItaminwater, and predecessor brand Smartwater, which is now a Coca-Cola subsidiary – was born in Queens, and headquartered his company in the borough.

Lee lends his expertise in depicting the city and its denizens, directing the campaign’s hero ad, “Vitaminwater: from New York.” The 60-second iteration of ad introduces the “born in New York” brand and runs through a litany of ways in which the beverage is “so New York: from “It works hard and plays hard,” to “It thinks it can walk everywhere.”  “VItaminwater: from New York” will also run in 30 and 15-second iterations.

In addition to the hero, the campaign also includes three ads directed by New York City film students who were selected by Lee himself: Kaitlyn Busbee, Joecar Hanna, and Joshua Reed. Entitled “The Energy of New York,”The Color of New York,” and “The Taste of New York,” the spots share stories of everyday New Yorkers while highlighting Vitaminwater’s range of flavors. The campaign is running across digital video, social media, streaming, audio, and OOH installments around the city designed to appeal to New Yorkers.

OOH messaging includes copy like, “Vitaminwater was created by a guy in Queens. No wonder it’s so delicious.” and “Welcome to Queens, birthplace of Vitaminwater.”

The campaign will continue running through September in the U.S. and through October in Canada.

“Born In New York” takes the brand “back to its roots to celebrate the diversity, vibrancy, flavor and attitude of New York, in a way anyone living anywhere will emotionally relate to,” Coca-Cola Company senior director of creative strategy Luke Perkins said in a statement.