Coke's polar bears to anchor the beverage giant's Super Bowl ads

By Leon Stafford

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Coca-Cola's polar bears will be the stars of the beverage giant's Super Bowl ads.

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Coca-Cola Coca-Cola's polar bear will anchor the beverage giant's Super Bowl ads.

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In a return to the small screen, the bears will be in two spots during the Feb. 5 game and one after the contest ends. The spots will show the animated icons reacting to the game in varying ways, including a spot on ESPN showing the bear supporting the losing team howling with frustration before being handed a Coke to calm his nerves.

"The bears are back and for the first time ever and they are coming to the Super Bowl," said Pio Schunker, the company's senior vice president for marketing platforms and content.

Coke also will offer fans the opportunity to watch the game with the bears via cokepolarbowl.com. The two bears, each wearing a scarf for their individual teams -- the New York Giants or the New England Patriots --  will react to plays in brief snippets throughout the game.

Fans can also post to Facebook and Twitter questions that the bears will "answer" during the game.

Coke said it added the interactivity because of the 100 million expected to watch Super Bowl XLVI, about 60 percent will do so with a second device -- smart phone, laptop or tablet -- at the ready.

The spots -- a 60-second commercial and two 30-second ads -- were created by Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, with help from Animal Logic in Sydney, Australia, and Framestore in New York on the animation and digital technology.

The first spot, “Superstition,” features one of the bears watching the game with his legs, scarf and "fingers" and "toes" crossed. It airs during the first quarter.

The second quarter's "Catch" has one of the bears -- which ever is rooting for the team that's losing -- leaving the snow cave where they are watching the game to get some air. He bobbles a Coke thrown to him for solace and slides across the ice to catch it just in time.