Coca-Cola shows off the untapped potential for 3D printing in advertising

If you’re a company looking for a smart way to incorporate 3D printing in your ad campaigns, look no further than this example from Coca-Cola.

To promote the launch of its new “mini” bottles in Israel, Coca-Cola invited people to its custom-made 3D printing lab, where the soda giant scanned the visitors and gave them 3D-printed “mini me” versions of themselves.

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While the use case isn’t new (CapturedDimensions offers a similar service), it does show how even the biggest of brands can do something both simple and interesting with 3D printing. One the technology’s most basic strengths is customization, which Coca-Cola’s campaign shows off well.

Another thing to keep in mind here is that the 3D printed objects are only as good as the 3D scanners used to make them. While Coca-Cola doesn’t point this out in its video, the handheld 3D scanners it used come from Artec, whose technology was also used to create the advertisements for the recent Bioshock Infinite game. (The 3D printer came via 3D Systems.)

But Coca-Cola isn’t alone. Disney, too, has been experimenting with 3D printers, which it’s used to offer visitors to its theme parks 3D-printed stormtroopers with their likenesses.