Coca Cola’s special Christmas ad.

There is one thing that I really enjoy analyzing, and that is the food industry’s marketing strategies.

T.V shows are constantly interrupted by ads and it is very annoying.

But I found a way not to be bothered as much.

I analyze the message, I see which strategies are used to forge the public’s opinion or even to change it.

And I take the time to identify those who lie, those who don’t care about our health, those who try to sneak into our head and make us believe in something bad for us.

Here is one of these ads that tries to manipulate the public’s opinion (I’ll explain the problem with it right afterwards) :

What’s going on in this ad ?

First of all Coca Cola makes us feel good.

We can all be together.

We do not need to be afraid of strangers.

We can share, we can give, we can trust, we can dream, we can believe and many other heartwarming concepts.

Wait ? Did they put a little puppy in this ad or some kind of cute little animal? Let me check it out again..

Oh! No, they didn’t use that strategy…. but you do have a cute little baby..  to make sure you get the full : ooohhhh… moment.

 

The ad starts with a red door, red like Coca Cola. Two young people kiss. Love.
Then the little girl and her dad share a Coca Cola with strangers. Trust.
Then a young man buys a Coca Cola for a young woman. Kindness and romance.
Then the little baby boy is excited about Father Christmas (Also a Coca Cola invention). Magic.
The old couple still loving each other. Love and family.

These are all strong values.

Values; something Coca Cola apparently do not have.
They do not have standards of behavior, that, is for sure.

Let me tell you why.

There is a WHAAAAT moment in this ad and it is right at the end… a conclusion to this whole Coca Cola presentation.

I hope we agree that after watching this ad, what Coca Cola is trying to do is to make you feel trusting.
The whole concept of this ad is about not believing in what others say.. in what society says..

And right at the end here is what you see :

So if we stay in the same line of thought, what they are telling you here is : don’t mind everything you hear about Coca Cola. Trust us too !

But what is it that we hear dear Coca Cola ?
That you are not good for our health ?
Is that what you are trying to hide?

You want us to trust you ?
But at the same time dear Coca Cola you are telling us that the fact that you are not healthy is not true. That we shouldn’t mind about our health ?

Is this what you are trying to get us to ignore?

Dear Coca Cola, 
For a lot of us, you DO taste good. Thanks for the invention. Its fun.
But, you are not worth our trust.
You are just a very sugary soft drink. 
And we do mind about our health.
Thank you.

All the best,

Sofia Abdelkafi Registered Nutritionist