When the U.S prepares for the Super Bowl, Americans become excited for two things, football and commercials. This February, the NFL had its 48th annual Super Bowl in conjunction with the highly anticipated commercials. There was one commercial released by a world famous soda producer, Coca Cola, which has created much controversy. Coca Cola took a unique take on the classic “America the Beautiful” song that has caused quite an uproar regarding prejudice, discrimination, and ethnicity in America. The ad opens with “America the Beautiful” being sung in English while every few seconds after that the song changes to a different language. It depicts children, teenagers, and adults of all cultures enjoying the adventures and combined principles of America, while essentially being brought together by Coca Cola. “The song was sung in English, Tagalog, Spanish, Hebrew, Hindi, Keres and Senegalese-French. The commercial also featured a gay family” (Hillburn). Since this ad was released, Coca Cola has received extensive feedback (negative and positive) through social websites. The negative feedback provides proof that prejudice and discrimination are still a valid concern within America’s borders and beyond. There is an article released by “Voice of America” that goes in depth with the reactions of Americans towards this commercial. As Henslin defines it, prejudice is “an attitude or prejudging, usually in a negative way” (p. 337). The article, which covered the controversy of the ad, stated that many viewers expressed their feelings by saying, “English, please” (Hillburn). Most American’s are aware that the U.S does not have a National language, regardless of the fact that many Americans speak English. For these Americans to negatively... ... middle of paper ... ... There is no true definition or language of an American. Coca Cola’s commercial clearly embraces the diversity that is embedded in American history, thus portraying the melting pot through the use of different languages. One of the reasons America is so beautiful is because we accept and embrace other nationalities. Conversely, the negative impact of the commercial depicts how America still has not moved past prejudice thinking’s, discrimination, and segregation. Works Cited Coca Cola. (2014). America Is Beautiful [Television commercial]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=443Vy3I0gJs Henslin, J.M. (2012) Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. (10th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Hillburn, M. (2014). Multilingual Coke Commercial Sparks Debate. VOA. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://www.voanews.com/content/coke-commercial-sparks-debate/1843696.html
Gatorade has been sponsoring the NFL for many years, starting in 1968. Its involvement with the sport has made the drink known to many today “The official drink of the NFL” (Gatorade). According to Naomi Klein “…the wave of mergers in the corporate world over the last few years is a deceptive phenomenon: it only looks as if the giants, by joining forces, are getting bigger and bigger”(4). And that is exactly what the corporation of Gatorade was trying to carry out. By joining its name with the NFL, which at that time was becoming a famous sport to watch, Gatorade has become the number one sport drink for athletes. In the “Peyton Manning-Gatorade Commercial”, the corporation of Gatorade is not only selling their product, but is also portraying to the audience its engagement with the NFL and its players.
Super Bowl Advertisement Messaging Strategies During the 2016 Super Bowl, companies paid approximately $5 million for a 30-second commercial, according to CBS (Ourand, 2015). With this type of investment, it is important for companies to strategically consider how to relay messages to consumers in a meaningful way. However, even a hefty investment will result in a very low increase in sales (Clow & Baack, 2016). Visual advertising results in better message delivery than other forms of advertising for larger companies with a creative mix of strategy, source, appeal, and execution shown in Table 1.
Normally people do not like to sit around and watch commercials, but when it comes to the Superbowl, it is a different story. Some people watch the Superbowl just to see the commercials! But why are these commercials so special? During the Superbowl large companies such as Buick, Skittles, Verizon, etc. make entertaining, eye catching, and persuasive commercials to try to get viewers to buy their products. Companies will use popular athletes and celebrities in their commercials because they know people will want what their idol has. Companies find various ways to positively represent their product.
The commercial was able to get the most attention in the 1990 Super Bowl because of the enormous audience. Super Bowl XIV holds the record for attendance with 103,985 spectators. Ironically, Joe was playing in the Super Bowl and his team won with a total score of 31-19. The 60 second commercial won a Clio Award for being one of the best television commercials of 1979. Even though Coca-Cola was disappointed that the ad did not improve product sales.
In the past, advertising was extremely racist and was almost accepted as the norm by the majority of Americans. Ads promoting everything from household cleaning products to breakfast cereal were laced with negative overtones that were targeted at the African American community. Although some ads were sneakily provocative, others were almost astonishingly shameless having the audacity to not only deface the image of the black man and women but also named their product after the very word that has tormented African Americans for generations.
Coca- Cola has always been popular with America and in the 1950s; it became the main soda to drink during the 1950s and also the golden age for the product. One glass of Coca- Cola was only five cents. The soda was a symbol of social status. If you wanted to be refreshed and satisfied, then you have to drink Coca- Cola. Celebrities, actors, athletes, workers, kids and even Santa Claus had to have Coca- Cola in their hand. With the boom of television in households, Coca-Cola became more popular because of the advertisements contain relaxing and being comfortable with the soda in their hand. It became so appealing that Time’s Magazine stated that, “It is simpler, sharper evidence than the Marshall Plan, or a voice ...
In the beginning of the ad “We are America” is shown on the screen with a flag hung on a shabby house; the image is dark and gloomy showing distortion. The importance of these words is later shown in the ad with all the statements Donald Trump makes about people in different social groups who live in America. Demonizing the country that as whole is a representation of every sex, culture, and identify that could ever exist. The context of those three words indicated the state of what our country would be like if Trump was to become president, the discrimination and disapproval of people in America because of his colorless
ProEnglish. "Fight Back against Coca-Cola's Aultilingual Agenda!" ProEnglish. Ed. ProEnglish. ProEnglish, 3 Feb. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
PepsiCo with almost a 3-minute commercial using Kendall Jenner as the silent communication source, using visual language with all ethnic and race being included using career choices such as a cellist, a photographer and dancer; a song written and sung by Skip Marley “Lions”; not to mention the men in blue was expected to be a hit advertisement by showing it was time to bring the world together as one. To be able to bring peace and understanding to every individual or let it be shown that all people count, not just one ethnic group or race. This advertisement was used to try to defuse the conflict of street protest and the violence that often comes with it, particularly the black lives matter movement. Showing the men in blue there to protect and serve; yet will do whatever it takes to control the ongoing issue at hand. The way Jenner being shown ditching a high fashion photo shoot ripping off her blonde wig, to join a protest and prance around with every nationality with a Pepsi in hand smiling as saying this is what will make the world a better place. The words in the music “we
Pathos, being the strategy most strongly used in this commercial, connects with the feelings of the audience. By featuring the commercial atop a green hill with a diverse group of people, Coca-Cola is showing that people of different cultures can come together in harmony, which aforementioned, was what people were looking for at this period in history. Not only the thought of harmony among groups of people, but the song that they sing together melodiously. When the commercial begins we see a young blonde woman begin the song, then she is joined by the rest of the crowd in singing, “I’d like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love…” along with other verses describing animals and pleasantries that would accompany them in furnishing this home. When we think of home, we think of a place where we can be loved and cared for, a place that is peaceful and pleasant (or this is what most people hope for), which is exactly what Coke describes to us as we watch enchanted by the beautiful voices of the people. Coca-Cola connects with us by evoking emotions of belongingness, love, peace and harmony amongst our fellow friends and people. This form of pathos is what really hooks the
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” aired a segment on the controversy behind the Coca-Cola half time commercial during the Super Bowl. The commercial featured “America the Beautiful” sung in different languages by people from different nationalities. Americans on their social media websites, such as Twitter, went into an uproar. Many Americans tweeted things similar to, “What an f***ing terrible commercial. The majority of it was not even in English and was sung by a bunch of foreigners. Just more multicultural, politically correct, liberal s**t” (CBS Atlanta). On the “Daily Show with Jon Stewart”, Stewart highlights the controversy of this commercial on Twitter. Stewart jokes about how ironic the backlash this comm...
The Super Bowl is a game that has been and will continue to be watched and celebrated by almost every American. Friends and families gather to enjoy typical tailgating snacks, while watching the national football leagues. However, the game is not the only aspect of the Super Bowl that grabs society’s attention. Super Bowl commercials draw viewers in by using tactics that are never seen in an average commercial. As time increases and technology further develops, do Super Bowl commercials such as Kia’s “Hero’s Journey” use different tactics to try to grab America’s attention or do they waste their time and money as Bruce Horovitz believes?
We focused our presentation on the advertisements during the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is the most viewed game worldwide and it has a big impact on society. Numerous individuals gather together in order to watch this game. This gathering creates a more diverse environment for individuals and brings people of all races together. However, it also might impact individuals by creating conflicts depending on who wins or who looses.
The Super Bowl is not just known for being one of the biggest football games of the year, but also for its amazing commercials. It’s actually the only part of that night I look forward to. Some of the commercials are funny and clever while others can be quite serious. However, all of them are captivating and very entertaining. Advertising is something that we see everyday.
Most of the time, when an advertisement is made to be racist on purpose, it is done so for the sake of humor. However, to the people that are affected by racial discrimination, it remains incredibly hard to view these advertisements in a humorous way. A source from Desginmatic.com says, “The idea that racism in advertising can be of good may be laughable. However, there’s a major difference between the multicultural marketing practices of the 1920s and today’s racial stereotyping in advertising” (desginmantic.com). This is basically saying that although today’s advertisers believe that we still live in a culture in which advertisements like these are actually acceptable and humorous, they need to realize that we do not and that these advertisements are not only unamusing, but they are extremely insulting as well. The effects of racism are often one