Advertising Content Analysis Contemporary Coca-Cola

Advertising Content Analysis

Contemporary Coca-Cola Advertisement

Images and Audiences

Because there is no ad copy in the contemporary Coca-Cola advertisement, it necessarily relies exclusively on the connotations suggested by the image selected for the piece and on the implied association between the corporate and product logo with those connotations. It is likely that the selection and composition of the particular image used in the advertisement is intended to elicit both conscious appeal to consumers as well as subconscious appeal. More specifically, the obvious conscious appeal is based on the natural interest and psychological inclinations of members of the target audience. The models selected for the piece all appear to be in the prime of young adulthood and they are all, objectively, much better than average looking in terms of physical attractiveness. Members of both genders have a very specific conscious interest in the appearance of members of the opposite gender.

Because the choice of individuals and situations depicted in advertising imagery is dictated by the makeup of the intended audience, it is reasonable to assume that the primary intended audience for this advertisement consists of young adults of approximately the same age as the models depicted. Secondary intended audiences would probably include consumers substantially younger than the individuals depicted. Tertiary audiences may include individuals substantially older than the models depicted and designed to maximize the appeal to those consumers who still maintain a self-image as a peer (or the equal of a peer) in the age group depicted. It is perfectly conceivable that the piece is designed to maximize its appeal to consumers as young as 12 and as old as 50 or 60 years of age, with a core target audience in between 16 (if the company were being perfectly honest) and 35.

Overt Appeals, Suggestions, and Subtexts

Moreover, the attire chosen for the subjects in the photograph is intended to be revealing enough to catch the visual attention of real-life counterparts (and wishful counterparts) to the models in the piece. The postures and apparent activity depicted in the piece is intentionally sexualized in multiple ways. First, there are five males and five females and the pairing off of five separate opposite-gender couples is unmistakable. Second, each male is directly associated with and oriented towards one specific female. Third, in every pair, the male is either embracing his partner or physically oriented with respect to her in a way that suggests a sexual relationship between them. Fourth, the relative positioning of the respective partners closely resembles positions that could easily become typical positions for coitus. Fifth, the postures of the models recognizably denotes a type of dance style characterized by rhythmic thrusting of the pelvis and exaggerated hip movement and mutual synchronization that readily suggests coitus both consciously and unconsciously. While all human dance rituals likely evolved as forms of sexual displays meant to convey fertility for women and virility for men, this particular style of dance is among the most overtly and deliberately sexually symbolic imaginable short of actual sexual activity.

Symbolism and Purpose

There are numerous elements of symbolism featured in the piece. First, there is the implied conscious connection between the product and youth, attractiveness, and the type of sexual courting behaviors that are (arguably) at the heart of why people do many (if not most) of the things they choose to do in life, especially in between adolescence and premarital young adulthood. Second, there are the unconscious suggestions that the types of people who consume the featured product are physically attractive and desirable amongst their opposite-gender peers. It is an approach that (arguably) exploits a ubiquitous psychological weakness, (again), particularly within the age group of the core audience for the piece. Namely, the vast majority of adolescents and young adults are insecure about their self-perceived level of physical attraction.

Furthermore, that phenomenon seems to hold true virtually irrespective of objective attractiveness and there are reasons to believe that many highly attractive individuals are even more anxious about their appearance than their average looking peers. (One possible reason might be that children who are unusually attractive are socialized early by continual positive feedback to their appearance. One result might be the absorption of messages that convey the idea that the child is only valued for his or her attractiveness.)

In any case, an advertising mechanism that presents a flattering image that is consistent with the way people in the target audience most want to view themselves is likely to be very successful. In that respect, the Coca-Cola ad employs the same principle as pioneered and perfected by the tobacco companies in the middle of the twentieth century: "If one wants to be & #8230; a 'real man' then one should buy Marlboro cigarettes" (Kellner, ). In this case, the purpose of the piece is to communicate the idea that "If one is an attractive, sexually active, and socially successful person one would drink Coca-Cola just like your peers in this advertisement."

Mid-Twentieth Century Coca-Cola Advertisement

Images and Audiences

The image in this piece is the less explicit component of the advertisement. Whereas many advertisements emphasize the strength of their visual images and restrict the ad copy to a single "hook" line or slogan, this particular piece relies primarily on the substantive rhetorical content of the ad copy; the image is consistent with and obviously promotes a favorable image in connection with the ad copy, but the former is much more dependent on the latter than vice-versa. The image itself depicts a very healthy and robust-looking toddler. Even in the black-and-white medium of the era, the child exemplifies idealized "All-American" features, such as his flowing blond hair. From a technical perspective, the techniques of the day were (apparently) insufficient to capture both subjects in the same shot; the images appear to have been produced individually and it is relatively obvious that the infant's attention during the moment his image is captured is not on the model portraying his mother.

Implied Appeals and Suggestions

From a modern point-of-view, it is astonishing that advertisements once featured this type of ad copy, even where it is not patently false. The literal interpretation of the ad copy is that formal longitudinal "laboratory" studies have followed infants raised on cola products into adolescence. However, the ad clearly states that those "laboratory studies" have only been conducted over the "last few years" which would be insufficient to confirm the hypothesis relating diet in infancy and social popularity in adolescence. The content of the copy would lead one to believe that the advertiser was prohibited from making direct health claims. If the existing copy evoked no shame and if cigarette advertisements of the era routinely made medical promises in connection with smoking, it is surprising that the ad copy focuses on social acceptance and personality when it could have promised taller children, muscles, and high intelligence. Then again, it is conceivable that other advertising campaigns made exactly those claims. Meanwhile, this one seems to have been designed to exploit the residual disappointments or regrets of parents whose own childhoods or adolescences were painful or lonely and devoid of social affirmation and acceptance.