Coca-Cola Europe is promoting Burn, the energy drink, with an integrated advertising campaign centred around short films “Ride”, “Playground” and “Peepshow”. The series tells the stories of real-life characters from the skate, music, and snowboarding communities. The films have be activated online with strategic seeding in over 65 community channels and will feature in Burn-branded social media spaces and an online hub. The work will be rolled out in 43 European markets starting 22 July with a hub at www.burn.com. The integrated programme will also feature filmed content created in grassroots, cross-community projects designed by Mojo and activated by Coca-Cola’s local European markets.

The Garth Davis-directed ‘Ride’, shot in Mexico City, is a piece whose gritty reality is heightened by flaming trails that the skaters leave in their wake, a metaphor for their fierce creative expression. The riders, who were literally on fire, were coordinated by LA-based skate guru Steve Berra, who hosts the most influential online blog in the skating community.

Davis said, “We went for a deeper, more compelling to ne than the high-octane energy most competitor brands do in their advertising. And one of the great mistakes you can make is to over-romanticize skateboarding. Skaters smell it a mile off and will hate you for it. So this was all about doing the stunts and fire for real and really respecting the skaters, yet keeping a surreal, cinematic feel so they felt original.”