Coca-Cola & Star Wars Just Joined Forces On A Fan-Focused Campaign

The Star Wars franchise has set its sights on a new galaxy — and it’s ultra refreshing. The Disney-owned series announced its latest interactive campaign, which celebrates all things Star Wars fandom, in collaboration with Coca-Cola.

In a promotional video shot for the new “Coca-Cola x Star Wars: Refresh Your Galaxy” partnership, Darth Vader is seen marching into a movie theater, where he interacts and spars with Star Wars superfans dressed in cosplay, all while indulging in a crisp Coca-Cola beverage. The ad aims to capture the loyalty and passion of the series’ generation of followers, which spans nearly 50 years.

To allow fans to create their own stories within the Star Wars universe, the campaign also includes 27 limited-edition cans and bottles, which showcase the franchise’s most iconic scenes and characters. Each item includes a QR code that leads to a unique AR digital experience, where people can record a video of themselves to be converted into a Star Wars-style hologram á la Princess Leia in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The products will be available for purchase in July in select markets around the world, with unique designs created exclusively for Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California and Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Although the intergalactic space franchise is a visual masterpiece, Coca-Cola’s global vice president of creative strategy and content Islam ElDessouky says it’s the storytelling that has solidified it as multi-generational pop culture phenomenon.

“The Star Wars franchise has been built on stories actually about human values,” he tells Bustle. “Whether it’s hope, whether it’s connection, whether it’s belief, whether it’s bringing people together, whether it’s fighting for the right causes. So [Coca-Cola] sees all of these values coming together and we’re like, you know what? We stand for that.”

When ideating around the new partnership, Becca Vodnoy, Disney’s SVP of corporate alliances, says catering to the fans was a priority. “That was the core of everything we did, because we know if we don’t get it right for the fans, then what’s the point of making it?” she says. “And so everything from the creative, the look, the feel, the story we were telling, we had to make sure that we were building it for the fan and that they would appreciate it and respect it.”

This isn’t the first time Coca-Cola and Disney have joined forces. The two have a longstanding relationship dating back some 70 years, when Walt Disney’s inaugural Disneyland Park opened its doors and served Coca-Cola products at its on-property restaurants and stands. Most recently, in April 2024, the companies worked on a global collaboration with the Marvel universe that included a TV commercial and limited-edition Coca-Cola pack designs, which also unlocked a unique AR experience.

“People really loved it, and the fans played with all aspects of it,” says ElDessouky of the campaign. “And then we left thinking, ‘OK, we need to do more because obviously we’re now getting to know each other more in collaboration. So let’s not stop.’”

ElDessouky and Vodnoy each have personal ties to the franchise and its characters, with Darth Vader being a standout favorite for both. “There’s something about when he [enters a scene],” says Vodnoy. “You just get the chills. Even in the [Disney] park when he walks in, it’s just like you feel something.”

But is the long-running antagonist truly a villain — or simply misunderstood?

“A bit misunderstood,” she says. “There’s a little light in the dark side.”