Coca-Cola Local Royalty has royal portrait painters paint chippy, pub and corner shop owners

Coca-Cola Great Britain has asked four royal portrait painters to paint the people behind some of the independent businesses that sell its drinks. Local Royalty puts the owners of a chip shop, a pub, a café and a corner shop into formal oil portraits, painted by artists who have each produced an official portrait of a member of the Royal Family, as Decision Marketing reported. The finished works go on show in a free exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London from 28 October to 1 November.

The sitters and the painters

Pindy Kaur, owner of Ocean Fish Bar in Barnsley, was painted by Nicky Philipps, who has twice painted the late Queen Elizabeth II. Simon Dafforn-Jones, landlord of the Ferry Boat Inn in Dittisham, South Devon, sat for Jamie Coreth, who painted the first official portrait of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Gino, whose grandfather opened the University Café in Glasgow in 1918, was painted by Gareth Reid, portrait artist to King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales, according to The Drum. Kaual Patel, who runs Torridon Convenience Store in Catford, South East London, was painted by Nick Bashall, portrait painter to Princess Anne. Each owner keeps their portrait and receives a donation to a local charity of their choice, and the exhibition also shows behind-the-scenes footage from the sittings.

The campaign was devised and delivered by MHP Group, working across MHP, Mischief and Studio La Plage, and runs across editorial, social and owned media. It is the latest chapter of Coca-Cola’s Localness platform, after The Bosses and Counter Cultures. Rhona Stephen, senior director of communications at Coca-Cola Great Britain, said: “Independent business owners create the places where local life happens.”

Why it matters

This is trade marketing that has been given a consumer-facing stage. Pubs, cafés and corner shops are where Coca-Cola is sold, and the brand’s research found that 80% of people want to see independent businesses celebrated more often. Flattering your stockists in public, with a gallery show and proper painters, builds goodwill with the people who decide what goes in the fridge.

It also adds to a busy month for Coke in the UK, which recently launched The Club, its first loyalty scheme in years, while Heineken has been chasing the same on-trade footfall with Pubscription. Where those schemes reward drinkers, Local Royalty is aimed at the owners, and it is a reminder that PR-led work can still produce something worth looking at.