Sprite Emphasizes Its Intense Taste in a New U.S. Campaign

Sprite and Leo Burnett, which was appointed the North America division of the Coca-Cola’s lemon soft drink this spring, have rolled out a new campaign inviting teens to taste the ‘intense’ taste of the popular beverage.

Leo Burnett has created a video dubbed ‘Feelin’ it’ and featuring three Afro-Americans. One of them is lying on the floor holding a bottle of Sprite in his hands while the other is sitting on the sofa. The man on the floor says “This is way more intense than I was expecting!”, though a few seconds later we see that his feet are in a strange position—the third man, MMA fighter Phil Davis is squeezing them. The first ad debuted Saturday when the Olympics launched.

According to Ad Age and Sprite execs, the new campaign will be “broader than just basketball”, as Sprite will touch other teen “passion points,” such as music, skateboarding and film. Sprite said that in the second half of the year, a contest for film students will be launched—like the one that has been running since this spring when the Sprite Camo commercial was created by its previous agency BBH.

“In the last two years, we’ve been fine-tuning against the same strategy,” added Rafael Acevedo, Sprite brand director. “This campaign is based on the same fundamental truth we have for Sprite—unique, intense excitement.”

For an outdoor campaign, Sprite has tapped Turner Duckworth to revamp the existing design elements a little bit. Billboards appearing in Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York have oversized Sprite logos to “push the way”  Sprite looks, said Acevedo.

The financial details on the new campaign are not unveiled but according to Kantar Media, the brand spent $2 million on advertising in the first quarter of 2012.