Cafe de Coral's newest ad wants to pull at your heartstrings

As people spend more time on screens, be it mobile or desktop, human interactions are decreasing – and we are starting to forget how to show our love to those around us.The recent Cafe de Coral ad featuring Dayo Wong (黃子華) is part of a new repositioning plan. The ad highlights the important but always forgotten values in our everyday lives – create happiness and show your love to people around you.The ad cleverly blends in the song from the popular drama War of the Genders (《男親女愛》) (2000), starring Dayo Wong and Do Do Cheng (鄭裕玲), but with tweaked lyrics to bring out the brand message – happiness. And the use of the song together with Dayo Wong’s appearance in the ad definitely resonates with a lot of Hong Kongers.The choice of celebrity also showcases careful and thorough thinking from the team. Dayo Wong, a not-too-far-to-reach celebrity, is seen as ‘not just fun’ but also smart. Though sometimes confrontational, he remains a voice of issues in the heart of many locals. More importantly, he is not an ‘over-used’ brand ambassador.Thanks to the smart choice of celebrity and use of a song which has strong association with him, the ad becomes enjoyable to many and generate some talking points around it. While it is a brave move to take a backseat in the TVC, we see however a lack of integration of the brand with the storyline. It is only towards the end that consumers find out this is an ad for Cafe de Coral.While being different from most of the other QSR TVCs in Hong Kong and instilling a real feeling of warmth, the ad faces a battle in showcasing strong branding potential and being overshadowed by the celebrity it uses.Overall and while we’re curious see how the campaign will impact consumers’ perceptions of the brand, let’s start spreading happiness today!The writer is Mike Underhill, executive director of Ipsos Connect Hong Kong.