Coke 'happiness ambassadors' to travel world and blog about it

by Andrew McCormick, revolutionmagazine.com 21-Oct-09, 14:00

LONDON - Depressed? Lonely? Don't worry: help is at hand. Coca-Cola is appointing three 'happiness ambassadors' to travel the world and spread their happiness and enthusiasm wherever they go.

The happiness ambassadors will, according to Coke, meet 'everyday people' on their 150,000 mile journey and will share their experiences on Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as they go. Their mission is to 'share their happiness and enthusiasm with the rest of the world'.

The fizzy drink company has shortlisted nine people to fill the new positions and is asking the public to vote on who they think is most suited to the job. The happiness ambassadors will visit 206 countries in a year in a project dubbed Expedition206, part of Coke's wider Open Happiness campaign.

Coke hopes that people across the world will act as local travel guides, suggesting places for the group to go and helping them find the secret of happiness.

"This mash-up of social media - online photo galleries, video clips, blogs, microblogs, social networking, combined with an amazing journey, enthusiastic travellers and a theme of happiness is a great way for us to connect with people around the world," said Adam Brown, director at the office of digital communications and social media at Coke.

The group leaves Madrid on 1 January 2010 and culminates in the US on 31 December 2010 after visiting all corners of the globe.