“Hey Kid, Catch”: How Coca-Cola and Mean Joe Greene Launched a Legend

I don’t care how many people tell me that the Volkswagen “Darth Vader” ad is the greatest Super Bowl ad of all time. For my money, the Coca-Cola “Hey Kid, Catch” ad from Super Bowl XIV, featuring “Mean” Joe Greene and a starstruck little boy, holds its own as the best Super Bowl ad ever. “Hey Kid, Catch” endures because of masterful storytelling and its power to shape public perception.

I’ve been watching the Super Bowl for as far back as I remember, including the year I wore a replica Miami Dolphins uniform (including helmet and knee pads) to watch the Dolphins vanquish the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII. And I have enjoyed the advertisements closely over the years. Even though the ads have become increasingly slick and high-concept, the best ads tell stories, which is perhaps why Super Bowl advertisers are investing more in longer-form ads. “Hey Kid, Catch” tells a compelling story in 60 seconds.

Deconstructing “Hey Kid, Catch”

“Hey Kid, Catch” created by McCann-Erickson, contains a tightly constructed story arc, written by Penny Hawkey: after a hard fought football game, the hulking Pittsburgh Steelers Defensive Tackle Joe Greene limps into a stadium tunnel to lick his wounds in the locker room. He is tired and bloodied. His jersey has been ripped off his shoulder pads. A young boy timidly approaches the football star and offers him a bottle of Coca-Cola to soften the blow of what has obviously been a hard day.

“You want my Coke?” the boy asks.

Greene, obviously in pain, shakes his head no.

“Really, you can have it,” the boy insists.

Finally, Greene relents and takes a long swig while the boy turns away, muttering, “See you around.”

Then comes one of the greatest payoff scenes in advertising: Mean Joe Greene, refreshed by a long swig from the Coke, turns toward the boy and gently calls out, “Hey Kid.” The boy turns around, his face revealing that universal look of hope of any child who worships a sports hero. Greene does something wholly unexpected: He smiles — and a genuinely warm smile at that. Then he returns the boy’s gesture by tossing him his jersey.

The Importance of Mean Joe Greene

As I watch the ad on YouTube on Super Bowl Sunday, it’s obvious that production values have come a long way since 1980. The Coke jingle sounds as cheesy as an Up with People halftime show. But you can’t improve upon the performance of Mean Joe Greene.

By 1980, Mean Joe Greene had earned a reputation as being a destructive force on the football field. He stood 6’4″ and weighed 275 pounds — and even by today’s standards his height and range would intimidate any quarterback. He was one of the least likely sports stars to savor a Coca-Cola and show kindness to a child. He was close to retirement when the ad ran; the look of pain and weariness on his face at the outset of the ad was probably a reflection of how he was feeling at that point in his 11-year career. (In fact, he was playing in his last Super Bowl — against the Los Angeles Rams — when the ad ran.)

Few other stars would have worked for the role. Someone like Chicago Bears Running Back Walter Payton would have been the wrong choice. Payton had a reputation as being a nice guy. Showing kindness to a child would have been anti-climactic. On the other hand, Greene’s teammate Jack Lambert, as much of a tough guy as Greene ever was, carried himself with such a fearsome demeanor that the notion of a child even approaching him to offer a Coke would have been unbelievable.

(In fact, according to Greene, Lambert was a finalist for the role, but his toothless scowl proved to be a liability.)

Greene, on the other hand, was the right combination of toughness and vulnerability. His reputation as a bad dude was strong enough to make you wonder if he would accept the boy’s kindness. But his face — so often disguised by the football helmet he’d worn on the field for years — hinted at a warmth and approachability that made viewers accept the possibility that a boy could screw up the courage to offer him a bottle of Coke. By showing humanity in the opening frame, Greene credibly made a mood shift from tired, to dismissive, to grateful.

The Reinvention of a Football Legend

Since 1980, “Hey Kid, Catch” has taken on a life of its own in pop culture. Several TV shows have paid homage to the ad, including parodies on The Simpsons and Futurama. NBC turned the commercial into a made-for-TV movie, The Steeler and the Pittsburgh Kid, starring Greene himself. The ad was remade (with a humorous twist) for Coke Zero in 2009 (featuring Steeler Troy Polamalu).

In 2012, Greene appeared in a parody of the ad for Downy. The ad has generated lore of its own, too. To wit:

• The ad did not debut at the Super Bowl. Coca-Cola debuted “Hey Kid, Catch” on October 1, 1979, and had aired the spot several times by the time it was used on January 20, 1980, for Super Bowl XIV — no doubt to capitalize on the fact that Greene was playing in the real-life Super Bowl that day.
• Greene reportedly drank several bottles of Coca-Cola until he got the spot right. As he would recall later, “It’s very hard to gulp down an entire bottle of Coca-Cola, and then speak clearly. The first three takes we did, when I finished the bottle, I looked at the kid and said, ‘Hey, kid . . . Urrrp!’ It wasn’t intentional. I just couldn’t say the line without burping.”
• According to Greene, the ad transformed his public perception. As he told Coca-Cola, in a video interview “After the commercial, [people] would all come up and [ask] ‘Want my Coke?’ Want my Coke’?” He pointed out that filming him without his helmet was crucial — for the first time, the world got to know the person inside the anonymous uniform. Indeed, the ad would help him transition to a career as an actor and sports analyst after his retirement.

• Reportedly, Coca-Cola was disappointed that the ad did not improve Coke sales. But of course the ad would create decades of visibility for Coke and a branding partnership with the Steelers (despite rival Pepsi having a broader branding relationship with the NFL).

Mean Joe Greene’s personal brand continues to rise in stock, which only helps create a feeling of nostalgia when we view the ad today. No one really knew the real Mean Joe Greene when the ad first appeared (aside from his reputation earned through his on-field play). “Hey Kid, Catch” cast him as a likeable guy. And Greene, now 71, consistently lived up to that image. Greene has done nothing to tarnish a personal brand that was, in effect, launched on January 20, 1980. He recently published his autobiography, which has created a newfound appreciation for how he played the game and conducted himself at the peak of his fame.

No one really knew it at the time, but “Hey Kid, Catch” transformed a sports star into a global brand.