The purpose of this essay is to carry out a rhetorical analysis of a Coca-Cola commercial which was played on mainstream television, and is entitled: “Coca-Cola – Share a Coke This Summer (Extended Version).” It runs for 1.36 minutes and can be found on the internet at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUzPwIP9BqE Throughout the course of this paper I will be providing an analysis of this commercial, and will be providing an in depth discussion on the effectiveness of its use of images and language to influence others. My thesis statement is: This commercial is manipulating young people to get their friends hooked on Coca-Cola.
Content Analysis
The commercial first aired in 2014. The original intended audience was young people, adolescents, and everyone who wants to enjoy life. The commercial’s background reflects on the argument that Coca-Cola are manipulating young people to get their friends hooked on it by showing cool young people from different ethnic backgrounds in their teens and early 20s loving life. They can be seen partying with and drinking coke against a backdrop of: beautiful natural scenery, a city with high rises and rays of sun shining down, a terrace on a high rise rooftop, and with cool guys and girls on bikes and skateboards giving each other Coca-Cola. There are youths playing around squirting Coca-Cola at each other, and adolescents enjoying a drink of Coca-Cola while: watching an open air band with drummers, playing football, jumping into a lake, and enjoying a barbecue. There are also cute dogs running around, joining in the party. There is also a teenage love interest that we see at the beginning of the commercial and heats up later on when the girl buys the buy a bottle of Coca-Cola with his name on it. The commercial end on a fabulous high when the couple end up dancing together at a club (Coca-Cola).
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"Coca-cola Commercial Rhetorical Analysis".
The advertisement works extremely well. Firstly, the Coca-Cola company has always utilized the highly successful magnetizing theme of young people having a great time and getting high on life in great settings in order to attract a young audience as well as those aged 30 plus who also want to have a good time. They have also always had catchy background music, and this commercial is no exception. The main drive of the ad is to get everyone drinking Coca-Cola. The appeal of the ad is feeling good and being happy. The effort is hugely effective because Coca-Cola has spent a great deal of money of having the best advertising gurus, commercial sets, directors and producers. The strategies that the author uses in this commercial are very clear: these are not just to turn people on to Coca-Cola, but also to introduce them to a new marketing concept and product variation – Coca-Cola bottles with different names on that you can buy for yourself and your friends. The ad starts with a pretty girl who we understand by her gold necklace, is called Jess, walking into a grocery store to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola with her name on a personalized bottle. The bottle label has the standard red Coca-cola label on one side of the bottle, and a name on the reverse side. The ethos of the commercial is the culture of youth and fun; there is pathos, in as much as there is an expressive style which relates to the individuals’ guiding beliefs that enjoying a drink of great tasting Coca-Cola is part of a cool life. Both the ethos and pathos aspects are effective because looking at the commercial they are realistic, and many viewers can put themselves in the same position, e.g. playing football, swimming etc.
There is no implied explicit thesis, however, there is an unexpressed implicit thesis. The style and tone of the commercial tell us that life can be fantastic if we enjoy a bottle of Coca-Cola with our friends. I do not see any logical fallacies at all with the commercial (Coca-Cola).
In summary, my thesis statement: This commercial is manipulating young people to get their friends hooked on Coca-Cola has been backed up by my essay.
Self-Assessment
I found that this assignment was very interesting and unlike anything I have done before. I chose this particular commercial as I have always thought that the Coca-Cola ads are uplifting, even though I know the company are promoting very unhealthy drinks which they get people hooked on from an early age. I had to watch the commercial around ten times in all as I was making notes on my computer, and on occasions I missed a few of the scenes, or did not get all the details, or interactions. I found the assignment guidance very helpful, as it gave me an outline to follow. I chose my thesis statement because it was clear and straightforward, and I knew that I would be able to back it up throughout the essay. The only thing that I would do differently next time would be to take down notes by hand, instead of changing from the youtube to a note pad.
- Coca-Cola – Share a Coke This Summer (Extended Version). n.d. Web. 3 April, 2016.
