I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
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"I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" is a pop song which originated as an advertising jingle, produced by Billy Davis and sung by The New Seekers, for Coca-Cola, and was featured in a 1971 as a TV commercial. The commercial featured children from around the world singing on a hilltop, and was so popular that the song (without the Coke references) became a hit in its own right. Commercial recordings as a pop-song were issued by The New Seekers and The Hillside Singers.
In the commercial, the lead singer and the people surrounding her were filmed in isolation, and never met (or sang with) any of the hundreds of children represented in the final version of the ad.
South Africa applied for a version of the commercial without black people in it. Their application was refused.
The song's melody was later used as the basis of the song "Shakermaker" by the rock group Oasis. They were successfully sued for the unlicensed use by The New Seekers and had to pay out $A500,000 (Australian dollars). This incident was the inspiration for the Oasis parody/tribute band No Way Sis's cover of the song in an Oasis style.
A 2002 7-Up commercial parodied the famous Coke ad as an attack on its soft drink rival.
External links
- The Story of the Commercial (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ccmphtml/colaadv.html)
- Non-commercial pop song lyrics (http://www.geocities.com/holidaysfun/teachworld.html)
- The Coke Page (http://www.geocities.com/Matty007ca/coke.html) -- Coca Cola Advertising lyrics