Joe Greene to receive Clio for 1979 Coca-Cola commercial
Prior to the Bengals-Steelers game this Sunday, Hall of Fame defensive tackle “Mean” Joe Greene will be on hand to accept his Clio award (thirty years after the fact!) for his work in the legendary 1979 Coca-Cola commercial that featured nine-year-old boy Tommy Okon offering Greene his Coke, and Mean Joe tossing his Steelers jersey to Okon as a gesture of thanks. Apparently, Greene never actually received the hardware for his Clio (an award for creative excellence in advertising), and Coke is using the 30th anniversary of the spot to take the opportunity to present it to him. Okon will also be on hand at Heinz Field, reuniting with Mean Joe for the first time in many years.
Here’s a link to the original ad, which was reprised by Coke Zero in January of this year in a similar spot with current Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.
Jason is editor and co-founder of Failure magazine.
Have you seen the Family Guy spoof on this commercial?
i am a big fan of joe greene and have a lot of joe greene memorbilia. two items come to mind about this commercial i have an autographed #75 jersey signed by mr. greene the year he entered the hof and the ad that was in the paper about the commercial i have a pub in mt .pleasant with one wall dedicated to mr greene