The Coca-Cola Kid (1985)

An eccentric marketing guru visits a Coca-Cola subsidiary in Australia to try and increase market penetration. He finds zero penetration in a valley owned by an old man who makes his own ... See full summary »

Director:

Dusan Makavejev

Writers:

Frank Moorhouse (screenplay by), Denny Lawrence (additional dialogue)

Stars:

Eric Roberts, Greta Scacchi, Bill Kerr

8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eric Roberts	...	Becker
Greta Scacchi	...	Terri
Bill Kerr	...	T. George McDowell
Chris Haywood	...	Kim
Kris McQuade	...	Juliana
Max Gillies	...	Frank
Tony Barry	...	Bushman
Paul Chubb	...	Fred
David Slingsby	...	Waiter
Tim Finn	...	Phillip
Colleen Clifford	...	Mrs. Haversham
Rebecca Smart	...	DMZ
Esben Storm	...	Country Hotel Manager
Steve Dodd	...	Mr. Joe
Ian Gilmour	...	Marjorie

Storyline

An eccentric marketing guru visits a Coca-Cola subsidiary in Australia to try and increase market penetration. He finds zero penetration in a valley owned by an old man who makes his own soft drinks, and visits the valley to see why. After "the Kid's" persistence is tested he's given a tour of the man's plant, and they begin talking of a joint venture. Things get more complicated when the Coca-Cola man begins falling in love with his temporary secretary, who seems to have connections to the valley.

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Plot Keywords:

coca cola | mother daughter relationship | soda pop | female nudity | australia | 

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Taglines:

The movie that came out of the fridge!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 July 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Coca Cola Kid

Filming Locations:

Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Enterprises,The Australian Film Commission,Grand Bay Films International Pty.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A short documentary about the making of this movie, The Real Thing: The Making of the Coca Cola Kid (2009), was made for the film's first ever DVD release in 2009.

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Goofs

The room service man hands Becker a silenced revolver. With the exception of obsolete Russian Nagant M1895, revolvers are not able to be suppressed because the cylinder/barrel gap allows hot gas, and therefore sound, to escape.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Cabin Steward: G'day ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Australia.

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Crazy Credits

The film opens with the following disclaimer, in this exact way as written heightening the exact words in capital letters. "This FILM is a WORK of FICTION. Neither the FILM nor its MAKERS have any CONNECTION with THE COCA-COLA COMPANY or any of its SUBSIDIARIES or AFFILIATES. THE COCA-COLA COMPANY has not licensed, sponsored or approved of this FILM in any way. All PERSONS, EVENTS and CHARACTERS in this FILM are entirely fictional. The FILM in no WAY purports to present an accurate ACCOUNT of THE COCA-COLA COMPANY, its SUBSIDIARIES or AFFILIATES in AUSTRALIA - PAST, PRESENT or FUTURE. COCA-COLA and COKE are registered TRADEMARKS which identify the same PRODUCT of THE COCA-COLA COMPANY. The DYNAMIC RIBBON DEVICE is also a TRADEMARK of THE COCA-COLA COMPANY."

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Connections

Referenced in Adjust Your Tracking (2013)

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Soundtracks

Home For My Heart
Composed & written by Tim Finn
Performed by Tim Finn, Phil Manzanera, Alan Spenner, Charlie Morgan & Guy Fletcher
Produced by Phil Manzanera, Cup/Enz Productions
With the permission of CBS/Mushroom Records, Mushroom Music & Enz Music

User Reviews

American Marketing versus Foreign Cultural Values

The film is billed as a comedy and will indeed leave you laughing at many of the situations the central characters get themselves in and out of. The movie should be viewed as a satire of the great American sales and marketing force on the global marketplace.

A hot shot marketing guru from corporate is assigned to help sales down under. He quickly finds a different pace of life and cultural values that he finds hard to adjust to. He continues on "his way" even down to the music for a new series of commercials. He knows "his way" worked well in the U.S. so it should work well anywhere.

Humorous side trips make the journey enjoyable as the guru quickly finds a large area that has no Coca Cola sales. He goes to investigate and finds a local soft drink bottler has the entire area to himself.

The guru uses every gorilla marketing trick he knows to bring the local bottler into the Coke family, but the local bottler resists and even offers Coke a deal. Coke invades the local's territory and the local realizes he cannot win against the Coke attack.

Coke's decisive win costs the company the guru as he finally begins to understand that other things in life, emotions and cultural values, are more important than business wins.

I enjoyed the film and recommend it to you, especially if you want to see a funny version of the 60's novel "The Ugly American."