Coca-Cola Risked Everything on a Cheap Fujifilm X-T3 — The “Disaster” Is Stunning
When Coca-Cola started scouting for a photographer for a major global campaign — one that required flying him around the world — they came across the name Frederik Trovatten, a guy with 18 years of digital-marketing experience.
Little did they know that Frederik would shoot the entire campaign using Fujifilm APS-C gear… which, as we all obviously “know,” has a 0.1% autofocus hit rate on well-lit static subjects and a dynamic range inferior to a cheap Amazon toy camera.
Too late. The flights were booked. The campaign was shot.
And the results, are exactly what we could expect. You can see them in the video above and on his website trovatten.com – Instagram: @trovatten
Advertising Campaign
- Coca Cola flew him from Denmark to Mexico to do commercial 30 days of street photography
- the project resulted in outdoor advertisements (exhibited at Oslo train station), television commercials, and even a painted mural
- the campaign was also shortlisted at Cannes Lions Advertising Festival
- the theme: tacos + Coca-Cola — in Mexico and anywhere else tacos exist
- the creative concept: using a “Where’s Waldo?”-style approach, subtly placing Coca-Cola bottles/logos into vibrant, authentic street scenes around Mexico City’s taco stands instead of making the product the loud focal point
His behind-the-scenes video walks you through his days capturing the raw, energetic life of taco vendors, and it’s absolutely worth watching.
The Gear (Brace Yourself…)
For stills, he used the humble Fujifilm X-T3.
For video, the Fujifilm X-H2S.
Plus an Aputure MC Pro light and a Rode lavalier mic.
He says:
there’s no reason to get these expensive cameras when you can do big campaigns, commercials with cameras that cost $1,200
The results?
Massive prints that Coca-Cola proudly displays around.
Of course, according to countless forum experts — whose combined portfolio consists mostly of long, bitter comment histories — this shouldn’t be possible. Surely Coca-Cola would tear down every poster if they discovered they were shot on a “cheap” Fujifilm X-T3. Maybe even issue a global apology.
Or… maybe not.
Maybe Coca-Cola is actually quite proud this time — certainly more proud than of the 100% AI-generated Christmas ad they released this year. ;)
