Coca-Cola is taking its "Open Happiness" campaign on the road, as PSFK reports. With the global economy still in the doldrums, the brand is holding on to its upbeat positioning for dear life. In a new social media push, Coke is sending three bloggers on an around-the-world tour to "uncover what makes people happy."

With an itinerary that reads like a post-college backpacking trip on amphetamines, "Expedition 206" will send Coke's floggers ("flogging": corporate-sponsored blogging intended to flog a product or brand) to 206 countries in 365 days, meeting locals, attending special events, and writing online about their experiences. Along the way they'll use Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Flickr and a specially branded website to document their journey.

The concept is intriguing, but the pace is breakneck. Doing the math, it's about a day and a half per country, which begs the question: how much can you really expect to learn about a place if you're hardly there long enough to set your watch? You could be forgiven for thinking that this initiative will be long on advertising and short on insight.Continue reading...

It's no secret that the bottled water industry is headed for life support. Between rising environmental consciousness and a sagging economy, showing off your premium water label is about as socially acceptable an image as Ruth Madoff shopping at Hermés. So it's no surprise that trendspotters greeted the latest designer water bottle, a collaboration between Evian and Paul Smith, with a giant collective yawn.

The collaboration strikes a remarkably different tone than past notable designer waters (Ty Nant and Lovegrove, Evian and Gaultier, Glacier and Starck). In the bad old days when water was a status symbol, packaging values emphasized luxe cues: elegant typography, sleek curves, and delicate surface treatments. The purported functional benefit was purity, an image conveyed by a general tendency towards minimalism. But luxe is out, and now that the display of wealth is considered distasteful, premium water is searching for relevance to the cultural mood.Continue reading...