NKP 765 Steam Loco Brings Vintage Coca-Cola Ad To Life

Very Fine work....period......

Chris -

 

Thanks for the Coke bottle link.  It was informative.  The bottle I photographed has "Frederick, Md." on the bottom, which is where I live.  The bottling plant is closed, and gone is the huge Coke bottle on the roof.

 

Mike

Amazing.  Only here can a beautiful video be picked apart by folks discussing whether the Coke bottles a prototypical.  Everyone is a critic.

A few "behind the scene" notes concerning the minorities, bottles etc..

The original conductor and two actresses were minorities but they dropped out at the last minute and had to be replaced.

Thr decision to use the bigger Mexican bottles was entirely on purpose.  they're bigger! all Coke ads have "oversized" bottles as props

It should also be noted that Kelly is an avid coke fan and even has a vintage coke machine at his house. We have shared many cokes together in the cab of the 765

Well, that made me smile...

 

 

Larry

Not to worry, we still have Pepsi "ThrowBack" for those of us that prefer the taste of real cane sugar.

Where I live, you can get Coke and a few other soft drinks made with sugar during Passover.  Jones Soda out of Seattle puts sugar in their product instead of corn syrup year round.  Worth seeking out.  Good commercial!

That is true, I clearly remember a Coke ad during one of the Olympics where an athlete was drinking a Coke from a 1L size bottle. The whole time I was looking at the bottle I was thinking Where did he get that large coke ? I want one!

As for those wondering about dicussing the bottles. If you work with any period re-enactors or coke collectors they are just as fanatic about details as any of the rivet counters (or Hot Water) on this forum. Guess that is why prop departments get paid well for their huge collection of old stuff.

But overall a cool commercial, and like others mentioned, I kept looking to see if I could spot Rich

That is simply a fantastic spot!  Great job by all!  

 

I see a lot of shots in there that are simply iconic, and the buildup to the ending, to echo another post here, reminds me of the Bob Butterfield and boy photos in the Lionel ads and catalogs.

 

Things like this remind me and make me happy that there is quite a lot to be said for things to be of a simpler time.  This ad has it, and captures it in about 3 minutes.

GOOD does not adequately describe this video, it is more like superb! This is without a doubt the best soft drink commercial I have ever seen.

 

Thanks for sharing this with us Rich.

Great Idea Andy!

 

Super awesome commercial.  I don't drink Pop but if Coke decided to run this ad I might buy a bottle or two.  

 

So True

 

 

  Thanks Rich and all who commented.   Made my day.  Mike   I hope that the Fort Wayne Historical Society does well by this effort.   

Sorry, Marty.  I watched the video and immediately clicked the "Post Reply" button before I read the rest of the thread.  Oh well, great minds and all that...

 

Andy

Made my day as well.

Awesome Clip, and well worthy of a Superbowl ad, Not that I watch them.

 

Thanks for posting it Rich !

 

This is one of those productions that brings back all kinds of memories....and a tear or two to the eyes!!  Wonderfully done.....  Was hoping to see Rich as the Engineer!

 

Alan

Marty:  "Amazing.  Only here can a beautiful video be picked apart by folks discussing whether the Coke bottles a prototypical.  Everyone is a critic."

 

Please be assured that the sidestep about the Coke bottles was not at all a criticism of the superb masterpiece that was created by someone who has the gift to rattle our emotions while marketing a product.  He deserves a top spot in the advertising world, and I hope he is given that opportunity.  The symbolism of the Coke bottle in the production was just that -  a symbol, not necessary to be the exact type of bottle used in depicting that time period.  The remark was made tongue-in-cheek, and was not a criticism.

 

Mike

There was a throw-back commercial, last years Super-bowl, a Paul Harvey, "And God made a farmer". It was a Dodge truck commercial, and hung around on the internet for some time.   IMO, the clip posted has some "to the heart" content like that ad.  I hope it does well.    Mike CT

he's a Pepsi drinker so they wouldn't let him on....

I am too old to be in this. Kelly wanted to recreate as closely as possible the look of the engineer in the old Coke ad. I don't look anything like him. The actor he got is a pretty close resemblance.

 

Besides, they shot the train scenes in the wee hours of the morning at the station in North Judson, Indiana. I was sleeping because I need my beauty rest. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be helping... 

 

I have a feeling Rich will make an appearance or two in the FWRHS 765 documentary slated to be released later this year.

Totally unrealistic.   The engineer is way too clean.

 

--Greg

I was glad to see one poster had the same reaction I did upon viewing.  It is rare these days to become overwhelmed with joy as the flood of memories this elicited.  Yes, I wept.  Thank you, Rich, for sharing.  There are times on this forum that it is as good as it gets!

 

Richard Snipes

4501 Safari

Rich,

 

Sorry to inform ya buddy, Kelly did not use you as engineer in his Coke video not because were too old, it was like you mentioned of the fact that your beauty sleep is not working, OH MY...not working at all...
...and Kelly's goal was not a horror film.  <snicker>

That is Awesome!! What a great talent.

That is Awesom.  It was very well done.  I hope Coke runs with it.

Really like the commercial. Just out of curiosity, can anybody identify the engine in the little boys hand at the beginning?

 

It’s a 2-4-2 I think.

 

Charlie

Looks like a 250 from 1957.  A plastic boilered 2-4-2 w/ 3 position e-unit, headlight, no smoke, whistle or magnetraction.  The tender would have a matching red stripe and lettered "Pennsylvania."

 

Rusty

Great commercial!

Good stuff.  Thanks for sharing.

 

The comments on YouTube make mention of a former commercial with 765.  Now that I've seen this one, I'm curious about this other one.  What was it for, and is it also on YouTube?

Actually I believe it's the 250's near-identical twin from 1958, the 249.  Reason I came to that conclusion is that I could make out the last two digits on the cab (49) and I could see the shiny E-unit lever sticking out of the boiler shell just ahead of the cab whereas the 250's E-unit lever was accessible from underneath, if I recall correctly.

Rusty, John, thanks for the information.

 

I could not make out any numbers on my screen.

 

Charlie

Wow great video.. Trains and Coca Cola. Two of my favorites. The coke in the glass bottles tastes the best...

You Lionel experts are on it!  It is a 249 with an orange stripe on the tender, lettered Pennsylvania.  Kelly used my favorite childhood toy in the commercial along with my long-out-of- print copy of THE BERKSHIRE ERA by John Rehor. 

This is a wonderful spot. It can be cut to a :30 or 1:00 spot. Like many companies now they run long spots on YouTube and get thousands if not millions of hits. There's a Coke spot on YouTube now with well over six million hits. One other thing about the bottle, you must show what folks can buy. Yes, the old bottle would be correct for the 40's but that's not what Coke is selling. Don

GREAT, thanks for sharing

 

Now let's have a coke while running trains.

 

Brent