Submitted by OgilvyAgency IPI Score 95/100

Recycle Me

Content Creation

Ogilvy turned crushed Coca-Cola cans into out-of-home art, with the 'Recycle Me' line lifted straight from the can, to make recycling feel personally relevant.

Case in 60 seconds

Recycling messaging is generic and easy to ignore, and Coca-Cola wanted people to actually recycle their can after finishing a Coke.

The instruction to recycle was already printed on the side of every can, and a crushed can visibly distorts the world's most recognised logo.

Photograph cans crushed in different ways so each distorted logo becomes a unique execution, captioned with the can's own 'Recycle Me' line.

The images ran as out-of-home advertising under WPP Open X, led by Ogilvy New York, with each crush producing a distinct version of the logo.

The source reports no campaign metrics but names a Cannes Lions Gold; independent Cannes Lions 2024 coverage records a Print & Publishing Grand Prix and multiple Gold Lions.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Everyday Coca-Cola drinkers, reached at the moment they finish a can and decide what to do with it.
Environmental and recycling advertising has become generic, and audiences have learned to scroll or walk past it.
The campaign needed to make recycling feel personally relevant without conventional green-advertising cues.
Coca-Cola used its own iconic logo and packaging as the message, rather than adding new environmental claims.
Distorting a familiar logo through a crushed can links the abstract idea of recycling to a concrete, recognisable object the viewer already holds.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Out-of-home advertising executions
  • Multiple unique crushed-can logo images
  • Copy reused from on-pack text

Partners

  • Ogilvy (WPP Open X led by Ogilvy New York)

Participation mechanic

  • None; the work is a broadcast out-of-home creative rather than a participation mechanic

Creator role

  • Not disclosed

Why Ogilvy's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Reusing wording already printed on the pack let the campaign prompt behaviour without introducing new or contestable claims.

  2. 2

    Distorting a globally recognised logo made an abstract instruction feel concrete and personal.

  3. 3

    Producing many unique crushed-can executions gave the idea range across out-of-home placements.

  4. 4

    A single, ownable visual device carried the message with almost no copy.

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