Business Notes ADVERTISING

Ah, those were the days, nearly 20 years ago, when Coca-Cola gathered a group of young students and models on a hilltop near Rome to sing what would become the most memorable U.S. ad ditty of the era: "I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony/ I'd like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company." The choristers got a flat $50 fee, while the commercial earned Coca-Cola thousands of approval letters and the effervescence of a song that sold more than 1 million copies.

So why not relive that moment? Coke tried, with results that will air for the first time on Jan. 28 during the Super Bowl broadcast. The new ad features 16 members of the old cast on the same hilltop, along with their children and dozens of other youngsters. There's one other twist to the revived classic: some cast members turned down the flat fee this time and opted for residuals.