Coca-Cola: The Red in Red, White and Blue
Soda has been part of American culture since the day of its invention. Just think of all the varied brands that you can name: Dr. pepper, Sprite, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and many others. Because soda has been rooted in American culture for so long, its ads have reflected the beliefs at the time and, in turn, America has affected the make and design of Coca-Cola. So why has Coca-Cola become such a staple of American culture and what in the ads attracts people to buy their drink?
For instance, this ad was a paper poster printed back in 1914. The first thing noticeable about this ad is the lack of words, instead the ad grabs your attention with a picture of the ideal woman at the time this ad was printed, your eyes get drawn down to the Coca-Cola bottle in her hand. The ad also shows this woman wearing a large hat with green plants in the background almost reaching around toward the front. It shows a picturesque warm day shown through the choice of colors and clothing this woman is wearing. Then there in her hands is the Coke, which as the focus of the ad, is implied to be the source of this woman's enjoyment. So in summary this ad is presenting us a picture of a happy woman sipping on a coke to relieve the heat from a hot day outside.
At this time in Coca-Cola's history it has just been a short ten years since Coca-Cola began putting up outdoor wall advertisements. Coca-Cola was originally sold as a dietary suppllmant. The healthy, youthgul woman surrounded by plant life implies drinking Coke will make you healthy. A few things this ad could reflect about culture at the time is, more obviously, the fashion choices and the way the “perfect woman” looked at the time. This ad was probably marketed toward upper class men, and it seems to do this by showing the perfect woman and the style of the clothes that that woman is wearing. It’s also worth mentioning that this woman is the picture of vim and vigour and possibly is meant to mean that drinking Coke makes you young again. All in all this ad screams refreshing from the cool colors in the background to the ice cold Coca-cola in the woman's hand.
The era of painterly ads gave way to ads aimed more at getting information across directly. For example this ad, which was printed in 1957, shows a picture of what looks like a party of sorts with two couples and a woman eating popcorn and drinking Coca-cola. In front we see a man and a woman sharing a glass of Coca-cola behind them we see three other people, a man in a white and blue sweater crouching down in front of the fireplace, a women is a red sweater beside him and finally the woman in the white and gray shirt back near the window. Underneath the picture is about a paragraph of writing starting with “There's always good company in the good taste of Coke!...” and talking about how the refreshing taste of coke makes people “sparkle”.
This ad seems to be intended for people around the working age, because all of the people in this image seem to be close to that age. It also might be that because Coke originally had Coccaine in it this stigma might have carried over to later advertisements even though it was removed, ergo the lack of children in the picture possibly showing a time when soda was meant more for adults than children. Changes from the first ad include an overall slight change in art style moving away from painterly, the Coke bottle has gotten slimmer and is closer to it's trademarked look of today, the ad is wordier than the last, possibly because it was posted inside, in a restaurant, and not meant to be read from across the street.
What can be inferred from this ad about the time period is that small parties like these might've been very common at the time, especially so if Coke is marketing towards it. It's also worth mentioning the white outside the windows and the baggy shirts or sweaters that the families are wearing might point towards this ad having been released in or around the Holidays. The paragraph below the picture talks about how “There's a special personality that belongs to Coca-cola alone, that invites good times... good humor.” this passage seems to be passing Coke off as being a unique beverage, one that's refreshing for the party, and that you can share with your friends and family.
Speaking of sharing with friends and family, this Coke ad was released just recently, around 2015. The name of this Coca-cola campaign is stated on the left, “Share a Coke with...”. Compared to the two earlier ads this one has had a huge change in the art style, with the only similar thing being the Coca-cola logo on a bottle cap which can be seen in the second ad. This ad shows the slogan of the campaign on the side then the line of Coca-Cola bottles all with the “Coca-Cola” removed and replaced with names of people, friends, families, etc. Also notable is the #ShareaCoke at the bottom right which is apart of the huge Twitter culture, Coca-Cola wants you to tweet this for free marketing and to “Share a Coke”.
This ad reflects today’s culture fairly well, following a very minimalist style which has become the staple of advertisements today, say a lot with a picture and less with words. The slogan “Share a Coke” is used by Coke in this campaign to promote unity and trying not to come off as a conspiracy theorist. It's used to make you think about others when purchasing a bottle, thus leading you to purchase another for your friend, or your father or someone else. It could also be something you’re more attatched to because your name is on it.
All of these ads reveal the culture at the time and the way of thinking that prompted the release of these ads. In 1914 people were more drawn to a picture and this hand painted ad probably drew people's attention and prompted them to think “My, that Coke does look refreshing, maybe I'll get one” without actually saying anything at all. In 1957 the ad was focused to around the same audience but to actually sell the product in bulk, more or less. It offered a short paragraph talking about the “refreshing taste of Coke” and how it fostered a good party. Finally in 2015 the ad shows today's tactics of trying to get you to buy more for you, your parents and your friends.
Coke has been changing its advertisements to fit the world at the time, if I were to show you an ad from around the start of WWI it'd show a man preparing for war. If I were to show you an ad from WWII there would be a bit of propaganda thrown in. As the American way of life changes so do the personas of the items we consume on a daily basis be it Coca-Cola or that shiny new pair of shoes and yet as these items change to fit the culture at the time these very items morph and transform the very culture itself. These changes will only lead to more changes, and it's pretty easy to say that products like Coca-Cola have shaped American History almost as much as the people itself.
