I am a HUGE University of Kentucky basketball fan, and have been since 1993. So, you can imagine how delighted I was we received this a pair of tickets from a 2009 Kentucky game. They came in to the Archives with a collection of tickets with the Coke logo on them. The 2009-2010 team just happens to be my favorite Kentucky team in my nearly 20 years of rooting for them. Tonight is "Midnight Madness", or as it is called at Kentucky, "Big Blue Madness", which is the official launch of practices for the team for the season. At Kentucky, 24,000 tickets sold out in less than an hour to watch this event! Every now and then, I have to tolerate a colleague or two who prefer the Duke Blue Devils National Championship commemorative Coke bottles, but that's when I point them to the collectibles pictured below. Go Big Blue!

Acclaimed artist Kadir Nelson has created a special set of Coca-Cola artwork in celebration of Black History Month. The art combines original illustrations by Nelson, with original poetry by R&B artist Musiq Soulchild. Some of the art is on display this month at our headquarters in Atlanta, and some was made into wall murals around town in Atlanta. While Kadir was here this week, we sat down to ask him what it was like working with Coke, and what inspired him. He even tells us about his memories growing up with Coke in his grandmother’s store. See the interview below:

You’ll see a few of these pieces in magazines such as Ebony, Essence and O, The Oprah Magazine, and I’m told that a limited-edition piece illustrated by Nelson featuring NBA All Star LeBron James will be available in SUPERVALU grocery stores across the country. Get them while you can!

Want to see more on Kadir Nelson? Go to www.kadirnelson.com .

Can you believe that this year is the 30th Anniversary of the “Mean” Joe Greene commercial? Last week, we posted the first of a two-part interview with Joe Greene about the making of his famous commercial. Here is part two of the video where Joe tells us about when he first saw the commercial, and you’ll get a kick out of hearing about the other athletes who were considered for the role in the classic commercial!

In 1979, The Coca-Cola Company released the Mean Joe Greene commercial.  Titled “Early Showers,” the ad has consistently been voted one of the greatest television and Super Bowl commercials of all time.  Someone from my staff recently interviewed Joe Greene to record his memories of both the making of the commercial and its impact on his life.  This is the first of two videos based on those interviews. 

Click here to see Part two of this interview.

Last week, one of my staff members did an in-depth interview with Joe Greene concerning the new “Mean” Troy Coke Zero commercial and the making of his original commercial.  This is the first of two video posts developed from that interview.  Joe offers his thoughts on the new commercial, the casting of Troy Polamalu, and the Steelers chances in the big game.

Next week, we will post an extensive video history of the making of the original “Mean” Joe Greene ad.

Just about a year ago, I posted about the “Mean” Joe Greene ad being voted one of the most popular Super Bowl ads of all time.  Today, we announced that another Pittsburgh Steeler defensive star, Troy Polamalu, takes on the starring role in “Mean” Troy, a new Coke Zero ad which echoes the earlier ad with an unexpected twist at the end.  This ad is one of three The Coca-Cola Company will air during the big game this weekend.

We have prepared a video which will give you a glimpse behind the scenes on the set of the new ad with some thoughts from Troy on living up to the original ad.

Later this week, we will air part of an interview we conducted several days ago with Joe Greene.  Joe talks about the new ad and his feeling about Troy.  Later we will use this space to air a detailed interview with Joe in which he walks us through the history of his famous ad.