Happiness Ambassadors On 240,000-Km Journey

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Coca-Cola Sends Team Of Happiness Ambassadors On 206-Country, 240,000-Km Journey

[Auckland, New Zealand], May 10, 2010] –

Coca-Cola is sending a team of three young Happiness Ambassadors on the journey of their lives this year; travelling all over the world, meeting all sorts of people, seeking out what makes people happy face-to-face and sharing their own happiness and enthusiasm online.

The Happiness Ambassadors will soon visit the Land of the Long White Cloud, with the New Zealand leg of their worldwide tour coming up in July - and it’s up to you to show them the sights.

While countless people have taken a year off to travel, nobody has ever embarked on a trip quite like this before – 206 countries, covering 240,000 km in just 365 days.

From Aruba to Zimbabwe and nearly every nation in between, the team will visit the 206 countries where Coca-Cola is sold.

Dubbed ‘Coca-Cola Expedition 206[1]’, the year-long adventure throughout 2010 will bring the Coca-Cola Open Happiness campaign to life as the Happiness Ambassadors visit with people from different cultures, document their experiences and share stories of happiness throughout their journey.

Bruce Weston, Consumer & Commercial Manager, Coca-Cola Oceania, says
Coca-Cola has always tried to express a positive view of the world.

 “Expedition 206 gives us an opportunity to celebrate that optimism and happiness on a global scale in a very personal way. Sharing stories about what makes people happy is a unique way we are bringing our ‘Open Happiness’ campaign to life.”

Expedition 206 began on Jan. 1, 2010, and culminates with a celebration at the World of Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta on Dec. 31, 2010, the story of the Happiness Ambassadors and their adventure will play out online with real-time content for fans to follow via the expedition’s online headquarters at www.Expedition206.com, as well as on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and other social networking sites.

“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, Office of Digital Communications and Social Media, The Coca-Cola Company. “The widespread global adoption of social media has given us a way to deliver a year-long reality TV series, without the TV.”

The expedition will make stops in cities big and small, visiting everyday people and major global events, such as the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Canada, the FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, and the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

The final team was chosen from a diverse group of candidates including finalists from the United States, Canada, China, Mexico, Australia, Germany, Belgium and Denmark. They are:
• Antonio Santiago, 24, a university student from Mexico City, Mexico
• Kelly Ferris, 22, a university student in Brussels, Belgium
• Tony Martin, 29, who grew up in the U.S. and now teaches kindergarten in Munich, Germany

The route map with approximate dates of the tour is available at www.expedition206.com on the ‘Next Stop’ page.

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