Behind the Scenes on the Barista Bros South American Tour

A South American former pole vaulting champion, a chess professor, and a beat up old van were just some ingredients behind the Barista Bros cheeky new advertising campaign. 

To roll out the new iced coffee range three television ads were shot in three days in Uruguay.

Created by local agency Ogilvy, the series of television spots feature the adventures of two Australian bros exploring the continent in a beat-up van. 

“We thought it was fitting to choose South America as a place to test the product because it’s the source of the Arabica beans used to create Barista Bros Iced Coffee,” said Boris Garelja, Creative Director, Ogilvy. “We liked the idea of our two Aussie boys being fish out of water, taking a new product to the other side of the world to seek approval.”

The team met some unique characters on their travels. “One of the actors in the first ad was a Chess Professor at a local university,” recalled Boris. “Another actor still represents his country in pole vaulting competitions, even though he's in his 70's. An amazing guy!” 

The van that features in the series of ads was also a character in its own right. “Lucky for us that this beautiful van was up for sale at the time of production. Our art department jazzed it up a little but she really was on her last legs,” said Boris. “Fortunately, the only person on crew able to drive her was one of our Australian actors – he made it look easy, but according to him driving it around was like driving a 200-tonne out of work school bus.” 

The Barista Bros flavoured milk range, which is available nationally, represents a move into a whole new category for Coca-Cola. “Since we launched Barista Bros nationally in September this year we’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response from both retailers and consumers with product sales performing ahead of target,” said Barista Bros marketing manager Karen Kresner. “The rates of consumers purchasing the product and buying it again are beyond our expectations.” 

Barista Bros Iced Coffee and Double Strength Iced Coffeeflavoured milk are available throughout Australia in stores and vending machines.