Hilltop: I'd Like To Buy The World a Coke - 1970s

The song, produced by Billy Davis and performed by The New Seekers, portrayed a positive message of hope and love sung by a multicultural collection of teenagers on the top of a hill. It originally included line "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" and repeated "It's the real thing" as Coca-Cola's marketing theme at the time. It was so popular it was re-recorded by The New Seekers and The Hillside Singers as a full-length song, dropping references to Coca-Cola, and became a hit record.

The TV commercial, entitled "Hilltop", was directed by Haskell Wexler. The first attempt at shooting was ruined by rain and other location problems. The eventual total cost of the commercial was $250,000 — an unheard of price in 1971 for an advertisement. The finished product, first aired in July 1971, featured a multicultural group of young people lip syncing the song on a hill outside Rome, Italy. Radio stations began to get calls from people who liked it and Billy Davis' friends in radio suggested he record the song, but not as an advertising jingle. It became so popular that the song was rewritten without brand name references, and expanded to three verses. Davis recruited a group of studio singers to take it on because The New Seekers did not have time to record it. The studio group named themselves The Hillside Singers to identify with the ad, and within two weeks the song was on the national charts. The New Seekers found time to do it, however, and sold 96,000 copies of their record in one day, eventually selling 12 million total. It shot lead singer Eve Graham and the other members of The New Seekers to superstardom. "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" climbed to UK #1 and US #7 in 1971 and 1972. The Coca-Cola Company waived royalties to the song and instead donated $80,000 in payments to UNICEF.

In 1971 a can or bottle of Coke cost roughly 70 cents. The population of the world was nearly 4 billion.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Coke
• Coca Cola
• Coca Cola Commercial
• Hilltop Commercial
• The New Seekers
• AdvertNation
• Advert Nation

[tsntana]

@tsntana Correction. 1971.

[tsntana]

@msmithstud They still could. Just with a time stamp 1977.  I'm sure they'd also plaster their current primary slogan on it. Open Happiness. Kinda fits, though.

[tyferras]

the best spot in all time!! from italy

[ZoMyGoodnessable]

COMMENT

[LitterboxDiorama]

@85pHotpot Huh....."innocent times' ......sure, depending on your race & social status. Some things are just as bad now as they always were. On the otherhand, many things are much, much better. You should remember that terriorism & environmental issues (pollution, resources. ecology) were just as much an issue in 1970 as they are today. Now, you decide to take notice

[85pHotpot]

Takes me back to Langworthy Road Primary School. Thanks. Innocent times and a stark contrast to these times and the future in which our own governments are attacking us.

Our governments created two enemies round about the turn of the millennium.

Terrorists and climate change.

According to them, we are both..

[msmithstud]

best COKE commercial ever. i wish they'd show this during xmas

[masanf]

This was, and still is, the lamest, sappiest commercial ever made. Hated it in the 70s, still hate it now.

[revoltkid123]

@cff121 uikjhkj

[cff121]

Takes me back to when I was 6 and watching TV at my parents house. Thanks for the memories........