Brands come out to play with World’s No.1 selling band

BY THE HAMMER

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few days, the only thing bigger than the coming state elections is Coldplay.

Just a day after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim welcomed Coldplay with a tweet, a PAS leader called for British rock band Coldplay’s concert to be cancelled. He says Coldplay frontman Chris Martin is an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights, while sharing photographs of Martin holding up a rainbow flag during a concert in London.

Islamist party PAS central committee member Nasrudin Hassan added on Facebook: “Does the government want to nurture a culture of hedonism and perversion in this country?”

“That’s right, let’s ban all companies named rainbow or pelangi, next let’s ban all rainbow-coloured buildings and finally, let’s ban looking at a rainbow,” said another Facebook user.

Chris responded to criticism of their concert with the HITZ Morning Crew, “Every time I meet Malaysian people, I feel such a sense of love and warmth. We love all people, all kinds of people, all religions. Anyone who is not happy we are coming, we’re sorry, but we love you too.”

Click here for full interview.

All tickets to the concert were sold out within three hours, including the exclusive pre-sale tickets for CIMB cardholders on May 16. Over 700,000 people joined the virtual queue for tickets for the Nov 22 concert in Bukit Jalil Stadium, the largest stadium in Southeast Asia, which can hold up to 85,000 people.

However, some unscrupulous scalpers had taken advantage of enthusiastic Coldplay fans by purchasing multiple tickets and reselling them at a much higher price for personal gain.

“RM43,000 for Coldplay tickets is just too much,” said Communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil.

The demand for tickets is so overwhelming, one buyer on e-commerce marketplace Carousell is offering to pay RM111,111 for the concert tickets.

Grammy Award-winning Coldplay will be performing in Bukit Jalil National Stadium on November 22 as part of the record-breaking Music Of The Spheres World Tour, but the buzz and fuss has already begun…

Coldplay kicked off the tour in March last year in Costa Rica and is expected to perform in Tokyo, Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Jakarta and Perth, apart from Kuala Lumpur this November. The band has pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 50% for the current tour compared with their 2016-17 World Tour.

Fans have tagged the official accounts of Coldplay, Live National and GoLive Asia, asking for a second show in Malaysia.

Clearing up our trash for years

This band has sponsored river cleaning for Malaysia – Coldplay’s sponsorship of a watercraft in 2019 was placed in the Klang River to remove plastic trash from rivers.

“We’re proud to sponsor Interceptor 005 which will catch thousands of tons of waste before it reaches the ocean. This will be the second Interceptor to be deployed to Malaysia this year, after the first one was received in August 2019 and placed in the Klang River,” said Coldplay.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said in a brief video, “Welcome to Kuala Lumpur! Let us work together, protect the environment and keep the world safe.”

Non-profit organisation Ocean Cleanup Founder & CEO, Boyan Slat said Malaysia is the first to receive the Interceptor 005 which is the first of two produced for series production and the first of the third-generation design, to tackle the world’s 1000 most polluted rivers.

The machine is expected to collect up to 100 tonnes of trash, especially plastic waste, on a daily basis. According to Slat, since plastic wastes can stay in the slow-moving whirlpools for years, lack of action to prevent pollution will increase the adverse impact on the ecosystems, health and econ.

The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) has also lauded the move to sponsor a watercraft for the clean-up of Malaysian rivers, but called on more local champions to educate the public in preventing rubbish from entering the river systems.

In 2020, Coldplay launched their “Everyday Life” album with a live-streamed performance that had a carbon-neutral footprint. They implemented various measures to reduce the environmental impact of the production, including using solar energy, minimizing waste, and utilizing sustainable transportation.

Brands Start Singing

With Coldplay coming to town in November this year, many brands in Malaysia are already jumping on the bandwagon of this pop culture moment. McDonald’s drew a lot of reshares, with their clever rephrase of a famous lyric: “Look at the fries, look how they shine for you”

Maggi went for the simple “And it was all yellow”, in keeping with their brand colours. Carsome, Boba tea, Nestlé LA Cremeria all tried their best.

Wonda, from Etika, was the first to play on the theme of the hottest tickets in town, which would prove very hard to get as people waited online for hours only to see a sold out sign. First, they posted this message, using a popular lyric to capture the mood of millions who tried and couldn’t get the tix..

But in keeping with its history of pushing beyond the normal, Wonda the brand didn’t stop there. While others had blown their shot, doing the expected, Wonda went on to differentiate itself. The brand launched a contest where lovers of Coldplay could post their creative messages using the band’s lyrics, and win cartons of their drinks.

The game of marketing one upmanship has just begun, and consumers should have fun to see where it goes.

Joining the Bandwagon

Many brands have joined the Coldplay hype by advertising their products using song lyrics from the band with their very own twists.

This article was first published on MARKETING Weekender