How Coca-Cola United the World... Twice

With the Superbowl, and it's highly anticipated ads, now a thing of the past, I thought it might be a good time to take a look back at the time that a soda company attempted to unite the world through ads and arguably succeeded, twice!

In 1971 Coke released an ad that would go down in history as one of the most powerful and well written and executed ads ever filmed. It was a different time then, but the idea was so revolutionary that the American TV show Mad Men ended it's final season with it fictionally being the brain child of protagonist Don Draper. Before I delve into what made that ad so magical, take a look yourself.

(If you have trouble viewing it, click here: https://youtu.be/ry6aFSK6UEk)

The 1971 ad very simply illustrates the dreams of unity by showing people of all colors and cultures together singing a unifying song in a field (in nature). The message is simple:

"Unity is natural when we share our hearts (and a coke)."

In the 70's, we were a culture of dreamers in the very metaphysical sense. We were against war, for peace (globally) and wanted the world to be a better place, stronger, together! The ad starts with one voice (perhaps meant to symbolize a single voice for change) that starts a song that the world joins in to. The lyrics literally say ?

Though I was born in 1981, my parents were products of the 70's, and as such, I was raised on much of the music of their era. It was a groovy time.

Now, let's take a look at a more "modern" attempt from Coke's 2014 Superbowl ad:

(Again, if you have issues, click here: https://youtu.be/ry6aFSK6UEk )

In contrast, the 2014 ad unites through a song that all Americans know (or perhaps should, if not will know). It wasn't a customized jingle designed to sell Coke, it was a song that connects to the core of most Americans, and the idea that those of other cultures were willing to learn the lyrics, because it means as much to them as those who speak English, is powerful. Honestly, powerful enough to literally move me to tears... twice. The song is the unifier, arguably more than anything else in the ad.

Yes, the song is the ultimate unifier, but not the only one. 

The 2014 ad also does a great job of unifying through the use of not just one location (the side of a mountain in a field, like the 1971 ad) but capitalizes on many decidedly "American" themes from all across the country. For example, throughout the ad we see things like people dancing in a hip-hop style, eating as a family around the dinner table- but at a restaurant, camping and taking road-trips. Surely these are all things that are done all around the world (this too is a unifier), but this imagery combined with America the Beautiful being sung in several languages, and by people of many colors unifies us all. 

Finally, the 2014 ad does a great job of utilizing warm colors balanced with cooler ones to tug at our emotions! The older seemed to only utilize earth tones, which was fine, as it's message was that unity and harmony were natural.

By analyzing the two ads side-by-side we can tell that the ads are a unique commentary on what the importance of understanding how a culture defines unity, and how to capitalize on that. The ads illustrate how being timely and sincere (or at the very least being viewed as such) can be a powerful way to convey a message.