I Became a Food Developer in Another World

Chapter 45: Cola Ads (1)

Early cola was a “summer” drink.

It was the drink of choice to cool off in the sweltering heat of summer.

Cola was a beverage designed to cool off the sweltering summer heat.

A young fan handed a Coke to a runner who finished a marathon in style…….

Various advertisements aimed at summer have been popping up.

However, this image of Coke as a summer beverage had the side effect of making Coke only sell in hot weather.

Why drink soda in the winter?

This was the perception people had of Coke.

Coca-Cola couldn’t escape this image.

Coca-Cola was faced with a problem: sales were going through the roof in the summer and then dropping off in the winter.

One of the solutions they came up with was the Polar Bear.

Set in a snowy, icy world, a family of polar bears drink Coke while gazing up at the Northern Lights in the night sky.

“Always Coca-Cola”

[I usually drink Coke while watching a movie in the cinema, and I thought, if polar bears can have a similar experience to me, why not drink Coke while watching the Northern Lights in the Arctic]

The 30-second ad, created in the imagination of a designer, was a hit, and people naturally associate Coke with winter.

The image of the Coke bear was born, brainwashing the world.

“So why am I dressed as a polar bear?”

Aria, her face covered in a polar bear suit, looked very unhappy.

But this time, I had something to say.

“I’m wearing one, too.”

Because I was wearing a polar bear costume, just like Aria.

I wasn’t the only one.

Ranya, the tower master, and Zion, the second disciple who had been dragged out, were also dressed as polar bears.

“Do I have to wear this?”

Zion shifted his body around nervously as he felt awkward in the polar bear costume.

“Can’t we just do it with magic?”

“I don’t have the money for that.”

Not only would it be difficult to use magic to represent everything, but the cost of magic stones would be prohibitive.

I can’t waste money on that when I can cover it with a costume.

“Tacky.”

I glanced to the side, ignoring Aria’s muttering.

“So, Dorian, how’s it going?”

“Hmm, not bad.”

Dorian stroked his bushy beard and nodded.

“I think this will do.”

He was the designer who had handcrafted the polar bear costume.

“Thank you.”

With Dorian’s approval, we began to practice shooting the commercial in earnest.

“So, how do you shoot a commercial?”

Ranya asked, looking up at me, adorably dressed in her polar bear costume.

Her eyes sparkled with excitement at the prospect of her first commercial.

“All you have to do is sit still, stare at the ceiling, and drink a Coke.”

“… That’s it?”

“Yes. That’s it.”

While Ranya looked disappointed at the lack of details, Aria shook her head.

“We’re supposed to have lines.”

Having worked on a hamburger commercial before, she knew how important dialog can be in a commercial.

They could say what they wanted to say or emphasize what they couldn’t with action.

“You don’t have to.”

That was the key to the polar bear commercial.

I remembered an interview with the creator of the polar bear commercial.

[If the commercials were filled with dialogue, people wouldn’t think of them anymore, and we tried to use only sound effects instead of voiceover]

Advertising was no longer a stranger to the Empire.

The White Tower and many other towers and businesses were starting to advertise through the crystal ball.

And they were all noisy things, filled with various sounds and lines of dialog.

The polar bear ads are the opposite of that.

The polar bear ad is the opposite of that, because in the midst of all the noise, it’s quiet and still, and it’s going to get people’s attention.

[I think it’s important to take away rather than add, because if you try to pack too much in, you’ll lose the story you’re trying to tell]

The ad takes everything else out of the picture so that the focus is solely on ‘Coke’ and ‘Arctic’.

That’s what the Coke Bear ad was all about, and its simplicity built an image that’s not easily forgotten decades later.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t hear the polar bears.

“You can talk.”

The magic will take care of the details.

“Here we go.”

As I spoke, the gem embedded in the ceiling emitted a blue glow of magic.

*

Whirling─

The dark, starry night sky and the aurora borealis beyond.

“Ah.

Aria’s eyes widened at the sudden arctic landscape.

The world built with magic came to life in an amazingly realistic way.

“Senior-

[Krr-]

Aria was startled by the sound that came out of her mouth.

“What?

[Krrr?!]

Her voice had become that of an animal, scratching at her vocal cords.

The polar bear outfit she wore had turned into a real polar bear, and she was standing on all fours instead of two legs in the snow.

Realizing that she was being filmed, Aria fell silent.

-Poof. Pfft.

Yuri trudged through the snow.

Aria, Ranya, and Zion followed.

The four polar bears walked under the beautifully glowing aurora borealis.

Chick-chick!

The sound of a coke being opened came from nearby.

Aria sat down next to Yuri and opened the coke together.

As they drank the cola, Aria looked up at the night sky and couldn’t help but marvel at it.

“Wow—

[Krrr…]

The waves of stars that dotted the Arctic night sky were both cold and mysterious.

The galaxy of stars, which seemed to be about to fall at any moment, made Aria, who was trapped in the small world of the tower, feel a sense of wonder and the aurora borealis hung in the night sky as a canvas.

It was mesmerizing, like a curtain of stars in the night sky.

It was a sight to be marveled at, even though she knew it was the work of magic.

‘Beautiful.’

Looking up at the Northern Lights, Aria silently sipped her Coke.

And then.

“Again.”

“Ugh.”

The first shot was gulped down.

*

“Perfect.”

I nodded, watching the Coke commercial in my crystal ball.

Not only was the quality of the footage great, but the sound was spot-on.

It looked like a real polar bear family was drinking Coke while watching the Northern Lights.

The video took about two months to come together.

From building props to creating magical backdrops, we took countless shots until we found the best one.

All three of them were happy with the result.

“Is this it?”

“Uh, now we just have to see how it goes at the premiere.”

Ranya scratched her head.

“The premiere?”

“We need to see the reaction before we release it.”

Creating an ad doesn’t end when you shoot the video.

It’s called a “preview” to see how people will react to it before it’s released to the public.

Even if I was satisfied, the otherworlders might see it differently.

I was going to have a small, unassuming preview with only the wizards of my tower.

That was definitely the plan.

But…….

The First Princess enters the room.

“A new commercial for Coke? I can’t wait to see it.”

“…….”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Third Prince Leon was also present.

“It’s been a while.”

Saint Josephine winks.

The Duke of Gerz and many other nobles visited the White Tower.

The great hall of the newly built tower was bustling with preparations for the screening,

─Ah, hello! Please come this way! Oh, me? I’m the Master of the Tower……

Tower Master Ranya seemed to be busy dealing with the guests.

My small and humble premiere suddenly became the largest premiere in the empire.

“If you’re going to do it, do it right.”

She rolled up her sleeves and did it.

I didn’t berate her for it.

“Good job.”

The plate was much bigger than I thought it would be, but it was good as it was.

It would be good for sales of the new “canned Coke” that would be produced.

Of course, that was assuming the premiere was a success……..

“It’s going to work, right?”

“Why, you think it won’t?”

Despite her confidence in the premiere, Aria was wringing her hands and biting her lip.

I should be too since the amount of people involved in the premiere was overwhelming.

The First Princess and Third Prince had come, as well as the Duke and Marquis, and even the ministers.

It was a lot more than Aria had originally planned.

It was enough to make even the most confident Aria nervous.

“No, I think it should work……”

“Of course it will.”

I smiled sheepishly and reassured her.

Of course, there was no guarantee that a successful Coke commercial in my previous life would be equally successful in the other world.

But it would work.

‘Whatever, I worked so hard on it.’

And with that, the lights in the auditorium dimmed, revealing the North Pole projected on the dark walls.

*

A world of pure white, lit only by clusters of stars.

-Pow, pow, pow.

The sound of trudging through the snow.

[Krrr-]

A series of animal cries.

At first, the nobles couldn’t make out what it was.

Then, everyone’s eyes widened at the sight of the animal trampling through the snow.

“……A polar bear?”

“Oh.”

What appeared was a family of polar bears covered in snow-white fur.

Like travelers being guided into a mysterious world, the nobles stared at the polar bears and the aurora borealis in silence, their eyes sparkling.

Chick─!

[Krrr…]

The polar bear family sat under the night sky, drinking cola while looking up at the Northern Lights.

“…….”

The video was only about 30 seconds long but when it was over, the nobles just sat there, speechless.

And then.

“Wow!”

“An advertisement using magic, how innovative!”

A small round of applause started, and then cheers erupted here and there.

This was the first time an advertisement had ever used magic to decorate everything from the background to the characters.

The nobles all stood up and clapped.

Aria, who had clasped her hands together as if in prayer, jumped to her feet at the sound of the applause that filled the auditorium.

“Senior, this is a success, right?!”

“…Huh? Uh. I guess so?”

“Kaaaah!”

Aria screamed and threw her arms around me.

“Yuri, it worked!”

“That’s awesome!”

Ranya and Zion also hugged me in joy.

I couldn’t help but laugh at how happy everyone was.

It was only a 30-second video, but the three of them had put a lot of work into it.

They worked on it for two months, and the feeling of accomplishment is indescribable.

This was Cola Bear’s first successful step into the world.

*

Sometime after the successful premiere, to be precise, it was about a week after the otherworldly cola commercials began.

“Krrr, are you Yuri Grail?”

A real polar bear came to me with a bottle of Coke in one hand.