Coca-Cola Unveils “The Happiness Flag” at the Opening Match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Only 32 countries are represented by their national football team in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, yet on Thursday, the faces of football fans from 207 countries made it onto the pitch at Arena de Sao Paulo.

Ahead of the opening match, Coca-Cola unveiled “The Happiness Flag” - the largest-ever, digitally produced Photomosaic Flag. The flag is part of the Coca-Cola 2014 FIFA World Cup campaign, ‘The World’s Cup’ – launched with the goal of creating the most inclusive FIFA World Cup Coca-Cola campaign ever.

Over 200,000 fan images were used for “The Happiness Flag” to recreate a unique design developed by Brazilian street artist Speto in collaboration with Argentine artist Tec. The flag was digitally-produced by Robert Silvers, the inventor of Photomosaic technology.

“The Happiness Flag” was placed on the pitch ahead of the opening match pitting hosts Brazil and Croatia, reaching an estimated global audience of over 1 billion people. Formed of 192 printed nylon fabric panels, the Flag was stitched together to deliver an epic 3,015 square meter piece of art, covering almost the entirety of the playing surface.

Emmanuel Seuge, Vice President Global Alliances & Ventures, The Coca-Cola Company said, “At the start of our campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, ‘The World’s Cup’ we set out to create the most inclusive and participatory FIFA World Cup ever. Through “The Happiness Flag”, we gave fans from all around the world the unprecedented opportunity to be a part of the greatest football stage of all. Football has an incredible power to bridge social, cultural and geographical divides and “The Happiness Flag” is the perfect illustration of this power, creating a shared experience for people.”

The Coca-Cola 2014 FIFA World Cup campaign, ‘The World’s Cup’, celebrates the inclusive spirit shared by Coca-Cola, football and the tournament’s host country, Brazil. “We knew we couldn’t make a claim like ‘The World’s Cup’ without proving it,” Seuge continues. “And we’ve proved it in a number of ways, from our films to the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour. Now, “The Happiness Flag” has provided the perfect culmination by bringing people from 207 countries together to participate in the FIFA World Cup.”

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