Coca-Cola: Alan Beale

Meet Alan Beale - a lesser-spotted creature of the unnatural world of advertising in the shape of a real-life lorry driver.

Coca-Cola has long had designs on being the “real thing”, whatever that means. Here it takes the form of Alan Beale, lorry driver, whose tough weeks are alleviated by regular doses of sugary, brown fizzy water - and the company of his somewhat leery co-pilot. Part of a “real people” advertising campaign we don’t know how much fan mail was received to the address given at the end, but it does seem that Alan’s appearance was a one-off. Perhaps he was too busy writing replies?