High school football tournament The Coca-Cola Cup had been
running for 5 years and had become a key event in Argentina,
encompassing 18 regions, 480 schools and 7,600 students aged 13 to
15. The event had, however, reached a plateau in terms of enthusing
more children to participate. Coca-Cola wanted to expand the
perception that the tournament gives teenagers the chance to
achieve their dream of becoming a professional footballer and reach
as many Argentinian homes as possible while strengthening the
association of Coca Cola and football.
Football is huge in Argentina and most young people want to be
footballers when they grow up. However, the chance of actually
making it into the professional league is tiny, because clubs
rarely see young talent from smaller towns. Coca Cola wanted to
address this and create the "Destapados (unearthed) Coca-Cola Cup,"
a reality television show giving 25 kids the chance to live as real
football players at the Argentine Football Association (AFA)
building - first time in history that the AFA opened its doors to
the public, giving viewers their own once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.
The multimedia campaign spread the word about "Destapados" to
every corner of Argentina to unearth the best talent. Highly
respected sport figures were recruited to coach the 25 selected
kids. Coke partnered with Fox Sports Latin America to air the
weekly 8x30 minute episodes. Other sponsors were quick to get
involved in Destapados, including Nike, Movistar, LG, Bimbo,
Vienisma, Cinemark and Terra. The "Coca-Cola Player" was
chosen by the public and won a trip to the 2010 South African World
Cup with the Argentine National team.
The show engaged with 10.6m homes and there were more than
550,000 visitors to the football stadia to see coaching. Fox Sports
teen rating tripled during broadcasts and Coke's connection with
teens and football grew by 10. 11 of the 25 players have been
selected to play on professional football Clubs.