The "half-and-half" cola, which is halfway between full fat and diet, was unveiled in Los Angeles yesterday at a glitzy event presented by 'American Idol' judge Paula Abdul and presenter Ryan Seacrest.
The first ad is due to air in the US tonight during the final of Fox's 'American Idol', which Coke is a major sponsor of. The ad features the Rolling Stones classic 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'.
Further spots will begin running across 30 networks from June 13 and a second ad with Queen's 'I Want to Break Free' will air in July.
As well as TV work, the campaign also includes radio, outdoor, cinema and internet advertising as well as a heavyweight sampling campaign distributing around 12m samples across New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Miami.
Coke says the new drink, which was developed under the code name coke Ultra, has half the sugar, carbohydrates and calories of regular colas. The company has invested over a year in research and development to come up with the beverage.
Katie Bayne, senior vice-president for integrated marketing for Coca-Cola North America, declined to disclose the value of the campaign, but said that it would would exceed spend by Apple Computer for its Apple iPod and Gillette for the Mach 3 razor. The biggest ad push Coke has had to date was the launch of Diet Coke in 1982, on which it spent $40m (£22m).
The C2 ad campaign is being handled by WPP's Berlin Cameron/Red Cell, which won the account from McCann Erickson in February 2003 and created the "real" campaign featuring Courtney Cox Arquette and Penelope Cruz.
Pepsi-Cola plans to launch an ad campaign for its rival product, Pepsi Edge, in June through BBDO Worldwide.
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