• Ad Age, Monday, July 14, 2008 11:15 AM

As critics around the world call attention to China's track record on human rights and environmental issues, Coca-Cola this week is launching the final phase of a 60-country marketing blitz for the Olympics themed "Live Olympic on the Coke Side of Life." Coke says it never considered adjusting or scaling back its program and is not concerned about negative consumer feedback.

The broadest aspect of the program is the rollout of commemorative packaging in 150 countries. That, more than anything else, indicates the company's support of this year's Olympic Games, says Kevin Tressler, Coke's director-worldwide sports and entertainment marketing. The Chinese characters used to phonetically pronounce Coca-Cola translate to "delicious happiness" in Mandarin, which will be explained on each package in the local language.

In "Unity," which will begin airing in the U.S. this week, basketball stars Yao Ming and LeBron James show off cultural icons from their respective countries. In Yao's case, that includes dragons and traditional fans, while James touts break dancing and cowboys. At the end of the "cultural face-off," both basketball stars look to trump each other by pulling out a Coke -- Yao's in Mandarin packaging and James' in English packaging.

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