Coca-Cola's Open Happiness campaign that launched with a musical splash during American Idol in 2009 has taken its message on the road with a CLIO award-winning Happiness Machine with a sense of humor; a Happiness Truck, dispensing soft drinks and fun items in Brazil and beyond; and a Happiness Store, offering convenience and smiles (also in Brazil).

Another variation: the Friendship Machine, an elongated version of its Happiness Machine — 11 feet tall, so that people have to help each other get the coin in the slot, with the payoff of getting two drinks for the price of one.Continue reading...

Last week we saw Weezer remake the theme song for State Farm. This week kicks off with Billy Corgan's musical makeover for The Chicago Code, which debuts tonight on FOX. The former Smashing Pumpkins lead singer, a Chicago native, was brought on board to update the opening intro's theme song for the police procedural, which is shot in the indie windy city.

Coca-Cola's latest spot, above, leverages the power of Coke's sonic branding and the visual fun of a Rube Goldberg machine. It's all in the name of promoting Coca-Cola Family Night, a My Coke Rewards sweepstakes tied to the brand's sponsorship of American Idol on FOX, which kicks off its 10th season on January 19th.

Registered members of My Coke Rewards can enter by submitting photos or video of their own family talent nights and compete for a PlayStation Move prize pack or the grand prize, which will send two families to American Idol's 10th season finale.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton is sponsoring a first of its kind concert performance tomorrow (Dec. 3rd) at Carnegie Hall in New York — an ode to the city's elevated train track, the High Line, which opened to great acclaim last year. 

Ryan Francis, a gifted young Juilliard grad from Brooklyn, will premiere The High Line, his winning composition in a prize sponsored by LVMH and the American Composer's Orchestra to create a Greener New York City-inspired sonic branding for the park. If Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue defined Manhattan (the place and Woody Allen movie) of old, then think of this as a modern-day Rhapsody in Green.

How did Francis create the aural experience and evoke the audio essence of the High Line experience?Continue reading...

Georgia State University is rebranding -- not just the look of its athletics department, but also its sound. A new fight song will complement a redesigned logo and mascot as part of a revamped sports program, which includes its first football team and marching band.

With the exception of a few basketball powerhouses, a college’s football team is usually the most prominent part of an athletics program, and a fight song, such as the Notre Dame Victory March, is linked to the team and its fans as much as Big Macs are to the “two all-beef patties” jingle.Continue reading...