Coca-Cola: Hey Coke - Masquerade Ball

Don’t be alone out there - watch this early British Coke ad with an unknown Anna Karina.

No party is complete without Coca-Cola - that was the message of early British screen commercials for the drinks giant. It sought to place itself as THE social lubricant of the elite teen gathering - a middle ground between alcohol and other soft drinks. Anna Karina was the then unknown model chosen as the face of the brand, welcomed into a range of parties by an inviting, Coke-clutching crowd across a series of ads.

Within very little time, the Danish-born Karina was hired by Jean-Luc Godard for Le Petit Soldat (1960) and quickly went on to become a defining figure of 1960s European cinema. Sadly, the long-suffering butler who hands her a drink at the end of each advert, before standing awkwardly in the happy crowd did not go on to such a glittering career.