Coca-Cola

Why hello!

You’re probably wincing at the fact it has been, what… a month since I’ve last posted. But, nonetheless, what a pleasant surprise? I’m back!

Let us dive right into the content I have planned for today. Excuse me for ending so abruptly, but I promise it’s stimulating.

We’ve all seen ads, right? Ha, of course we have, they’re simply omnipresent. Well, I’m sure we are all familiar with Coca-Cola. Also quite ubiquitous… Since the moment I came out of my mother’s womb, Coca-Cola has been a prominent soft drink. It has existed since 1886 (just throwing out a bit of logos) and then suffused throughout the world, with an influx purchasing and consuming it on a daily basis. I don’t know what sort of elixir allowed that to happen. Perhaps it became so widespread due to their ability to construct such alluring and persuasive advertisements.

Here’s a major throwback to 1979, of an advert staring Joe Greene or “Mean” Joe, who was a famous American football player at the time endorsing the Coca-Cola soft drink.

To reiterate, the ad begins as the phenomenon Joe Greene, the doyen of American football, limps down a corridor. As a young innocent child approaches him, offering him help as a kind virtue. Greene displays no sympathy towards the little boy, ignores him and walks on. Despite Greene’s superfluous pessimistic attitude, the boy continues to flatter him and nervously compliments him, asserting he is the “best ever.” “Mean” Joe’s attitude has not debilitated the child, as he then offers Greene his Coke. The child insists he takes the Coke. Eventually, Joe takes it and gracefully chugs the bottle, as music that just screams “hallelujah” at us plays in the background. Greene’s mood flips as a result of the coke, he no longer emits a mean attitude, instead he smiles and gives the kid his towel as a symbol of gratitude in return for the Coke. The advertisement closes with “Have a coke and smile. Coke adds life.”

There are three main factors surrounding the art of rhetoric, proposed by Aristotle, are ethos, pathos and logos. The two most obvious factors are the use ethos and pathos. Ethos is displayed through the use of the authoritative figure of Joe Greene endorsing the product. Greene is an athlete; the fact that the ad is advertising an unhealthy product adds an element of deception. Using Greene as the authoritative figure makes the audience believe that he is creditable and think, “if Joe Greene drinks it, it must be good for us since he is fit.” In addition, the child looked up when speaking to Greene, and spoke with an anxious tone, which further emphasizes his role as a celebrity. Greene’s tone also portrays a sense of superiority.

And finally, pathos is shown through the use of the child. We tend to sympathize with children, which gives us an appeal to the ad through our emotions. The viewer identifies with the child and is most likely awed by his kind gesture… I most certainly was. At the end of the day, kids are just cute, we like to see their innocent faces and their generous actions would please us more than if it were an adult.