One of the best and most loved commercials ever seen on television involved imposing Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Mean Joe Greene, a nine-year old boy, and a refreshing bottle of Coke. For some reason, I always assumed that this commercial was released during the Super Bowl. Since it was released in the 1970s, there was a 40 percent chance that it was released during a Super Bowl that included the Pittsburgh Steelers. For nearly forty years, I assumed wrong. The commercial aired for the first time during the baseball playoffs in October of 1979. The Steelers did win the Super Bowl that season.
Never having acted before, Greene expected filming to take only half a day. It lasted three full days. Because of lighting problems and novice actors in a nine-year old boy and a professional football player, the commercial required 128 takes. For each take, Greene downed a bottle of Coke. More than twenty bottles in a single day. Because Greene's hands were unusually large, bigger bottles were specially made for the commercial. That's a lot of Coke. The bloated Greene punctuated several takes with belches. Much to the enjoyment of his young costar who laughed and said, "You fumbled!" It may have taken a while but they sure got it right in the end.
A lot has fortunately changed since 1979. The pairing of of a small white boy and a large black man was unusual for the time. Initially, Coca-Cola suggested using Terry Bradshaw as the football player. Nothing against Bradshaw, he's shown for decades that he's comfortable in front of a camera but the commercial was perfect with the presence of Mean Joe Greene. The contrast between the black defensive lineman and the small white boy was perfect. The commercial won a Clio award, advertising's Oscar, and Greene won a Clio for best actor. It also took some of the meanness away from Mean Joe Greene.
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