Last week, I posted about the controversy about the Coca Cola ad that aired during the 2014 Superbowl. This past Friday, Coca Cola aired the full length version during the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. Unfortunately, I missed the initial viewing during the Opening Ceremony, but thanks to the increase in technological advancements (aka Youtube), I found it online after it aired.
As a college student, I typically browse the internet in class (meaning that my computer is on silent), and I ended up watching this commercial during one of my lectures. I guess you could say that I viewed it differently because I was blind (more like mute in this case) to the controversial issue that existed in the initial commercial. Honestly, I think that the commercial had a very strong effect on me while it was on silent. I saw diversity, happiness, and red, white, and blue. Overall, the commercial showed America as the melting pot of all cultures and diversities. I personally liked watching the commercial on silent because I was slightly offended by the commercial when it was sung in seven languages other than English.
I'm all for diversity and pc commercials, but I am annoyed by their blatant manipulation. I know commercials are meant to influence their audience, to persuade them to a buy a product, to manipulate us to have a desired effect. I get that. But the content of the commercial (other than the occasional coke bottle visual) has nothing to do with their product. They are just trying to put forth a wholesome, accepting, all-american attitude in order to get us to spend more money on soda by equating it with non-racist attitudes. It's annoying that companies put forward different "faces" to the public to get us to think they are a certain way and that we should support them by spending money. I guess one could argue that Coca Cola got started in Georgia, so they are highlighting their roots, but I considering Coca Cola has a massive international market, I think they are more interested in making money than sticking to the (obnoxiously? as in trying too hard) patriotic views they're spouting forth in the commercial.
ReplyDeleteAlso, take this all with a grain of salt, I am usually hyper critical of big businesses.
First of all, it is a little much to be offended because people are singing in languages other than English, especially when the United States does not have an official language. While I admire your bravery in admitting this, the comment in and of itself is slightly offensive.
ReplyDeleteGoing off of the comment above mine by "human being," there is no doubt that Coca Cola is more interested in making money than in backing patriotism. I do not think this commercial is trying to be deceitful about the fact that making money is their number one goal. Coca Cola is a business, and the entire point of being a business is to make money. The real question is: would you rather buy products from a company that stands for diversity and acceptance or one that stands for racism and white supremacy? At the end of the day, people are going to buy Coca Cola no matter what, so I think we should give them a little credit for publicly acknowledging that their company does not stand for racism and homophobia.