Coke enlists Fifty Shades actor Jamie Dornan for ‘cheeky’ Diet Coke break ad
The Fifty Shades of Grey actor will star in an ad revealing his passion for cold water swimming next month, as the brand continues to encourage consumers to enjoy a break with Diet Coke.
Diet Coke has signed actor Jamie Dornan as its new brand ambassador as part of its ongoing ‘Diet Coke break’ platform, signalling a return of the Diet Coke hunk.
Next month, Dornan will star in a TV ad, which is set to reveal his love of cold-water swimming “with a cheeky Diet Coke twist”. The Northern Irish actor, who starred in the Fifty Shades of Grey series and BBC drama The Fall, will feature in the new ‘This Is My Taste’ Diet Coke platform.
The platform is aimed at shining a spotlight on fans and encouraging them to own their interests and tastes, as well as their individual Diet Coke break moment.
“We’re excited to work with Jamie to bring the new campaign to life and truly inspire people to own and celebrate their own style and taste, all while enjoying an iconic Diet Coke break,” says Coca-Cola Company senior marketing director Louise Maugest.
Diet Coke returns to personalisation with new look cans
Diet Coke is known for having worked with an array of celebrities over the years, including names such as Whitney Houston, Ben Affleck, and Renée Zellweger. In 2022, model Kate Moss was named as the brand’s creative director. Previously, designers including Karl Lagerfeld and Marc Jacobs had occupied the role.
July saw the brand return to personalisation, as it launched new cans and bottles with 150 different names on them. Each pack has the Diet Coke trademark on it as usual, but also the word ‘Break’. The full pack front reads: “Diet Coke Break by [name].”
The move is similar to Coca-Cola’s famous ‘Share a Coke’ campaign from 2011, which ran across Coca-Cola bottles and cans, replacing the brand name with consumers’ names in the brand’s signature typeface.
The choice of Jamie Dornan as its new ambassador suggests Diet Coke is channeling its famous ‘Diet Coke Break’ ads that ran from 1994 to 2013. The series of ads, which featured attractive men at work, included instalments such as 1997’s ‘11.30 Appointment’ and 2013’s ‘Gardener’.
The ads were designed to appeal to Diet Coke’s predominantly female consumer base. However, the company ditched the hunks in 2015, with the view the campaigns did not “represent the values of modern confident women”.
