“I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. I’d like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.”
For a certain generation, those lyrics inspire a rush of nostalgia. For another, much younger generation, it probably means … not much. Either way, if you were watching the Mad Men series finale on Sunday night, you saw the ad incorporated into the final scene, in which Don Draper (Jon Hamm) is meditating on a hillside before the commercial played. Did Draper create the ad? That’s the impression many viewers were left with. But who actually created the iconic 1971 commercial? According to Coca-Cola’s website, credit for the spot — dubbed “Hilltop” — goes to Bill Backer, who was then creative director on the Coke account at McCann Erickson. That, incidentally, is the ad agency that acquired Draper’s firm in the show’s final season.
