Things were simpler for executives when all a major soda brand desired to do was purchase the world a Coca-Cola.
Currently in Vogue, there is a certain streak of TV advertisements that have set a template for selling products to people and then gauging their sentiments on the streets.
Pepsi, the rival of Coca-Cola that has been in competition for a long time, is the most recent company to attempt this approach. The soda brand has faced controversy due to its recently withdrawn two-and-a-half-minute advertisement, in which model Kendall Jenner joins a protest and appears to ease tensions with police officers by offering one of them a can of soda. This strategy follows the same pattern as Coca-Cola’s, utilizing a vaguely defined, timeless feeling of uplift (the protesters Jenner joins have comically generic signs reading “Love” and “Join the Conversation”) that aims to convey a sense of urgency and relevance.
The advertisement for Coca-Cola from the finale of Mad Men is something that individuals should be more aware of.
We sincerely apologize for any serious issue regarding the lighting, and we acknowledge that we missed the mark. It is clear that our intention was to project a global message of understanding, peace, and unity. Pepsi stated that they were attempting to turn a moment of high tension into an opportunity to celebrate fame and commerce through their advertisement, which featured a vague hippie-themed costume that went beyond the imagery of protest. This approach, which seems to loosely reference the old Coke ad, creates discordant notes. This ad takes risks by not featuring real protesters like Ieshia Evans, a famous Baton Rouge protester, and fails to address recent incidents involving black individuals. It is a glaring misstep to sell soft drinks while making explicit references to both Vietnam War protesters and anti-black police protesters. This ad would be misguided in any climate, without any explanation. The English output has been inverted and has undergone some changes.
Bud “Bud Light Party,” which Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer sought to unite Americans in a state of division before the election, is behind the Budweiser ad in this year’s Super Bowl. The ad uses the story of Adolphus Busch, founder of the German immigrant brewery, to communicate the idea that buying Budweiser is a way to support and celebrate America as a nation of immigrants. It’s not hard to understand why this messaging is being used, given the recent wave of high-profile political ads that have vaguely understood and easily-used messaging to transmit the idea. Making it more virtuous will make you happier, but it won’t necessarily make you buy the product.
The concept of being America ended on a high note, as it is recognized as a quintessentially American brand and beer, with Budweiser Bud Light’s political engagement and its association with being dopey.
The specific image of Jenner handing a soda to a police officer would have been cynical and unremarkable, but the commercial softened the protest imagery by keeping the general storyline of hungry citizens seeking social change. Now, ads use the unrest and division in society as a starting point for sales pitches, subtly maneuvering without drawing attention to the contemporary issues. The Pepsi ad, seemingly in a class of its own, even has multiple antecedents as a disaster that has been used in various ways.
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The message of togetherness may have been dressed up in the style of the protest era, but the goal of Coke in the 1970s was upfront about their desire to sell soda as a cure for the malaise by selling their product. While it can be reasonably ignored as a past point where a faux-wokeness thing of familiar overextension was used to sell a product, Pepsi’s ad fails solely for its insensitivity rather than being a cash-in on the unhappiness of many people. It would still be weird but Pepsi would actually make a commercial that deals with police violence in a clear-eyed and frank way if they were actually attempting to be authentic and have a conversation that they claim they want, instead of solely wanting to cash-in on the conversation. Those conversations are pointless and limited in their role in our lives, and it’s no longer enough for companies to attempt to start “conversations” to sell beer or soda or lumber above the rise of media chatter. They’re only walking away from what other brands are doing, but the particulars of this ad make it bizarre.