Just in time for the season six premiere of Mad Men this Sunday, I came across a link to  Project Re: Brief, a documentary about how four well-known ads from the 1960s and 1970s (Volvo (“Drive it like you hate it”), Avis (“We try harder”), Coke (“Hilltop” (aka “I’d like to buy the world a Coke”)) and Alka-Seltzer (“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!”) were “reimagined” for today’s digital age in a collaboration with Google.  I wasn’t around when these ads first aired or were seen in print (in the case of Avis), of course, but most of them (especially the Coke ad) still have resonance with much of the public or are, at least, very memorable.

The Project Re: Brief trailer

In the film, the original creators of the ads were invited back to discuss how the ad would work today in a more viral and interactive digital environment.  The creators, now in their 70s and 80s, were definitely not familiar with modern day technology and were amazed at what phones, tablets and desktop/laptops can do to communicate (many admitted that they used Google – but as a search engine).   The film journeys the entire creative process, from conception to proposal and eventually public presentation of all four of the companies.  I won’t go into detail about what each iconic brand comes up with – you’ll have to watch the film – but it’s amazing how something decades old can be made relevant today.

The entire film is available to view here.

Have you seen this film?  What are your thoughts?  What ads do YOU think are iconic and should be remade?