"It's the Real Thing"

http://adage.com/article/news/enjoy-top-10-coca-cola-ads/227301/

I found a classic  Coke ad “It’s the real thing” and it argues for world peace and harmony. It starts off with a women singing the line “ Id like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love….”. At this point it is just a close up on her face, there is no sign that it is a Coke add quite yet. It zooms out and you can start to see other people and then by the second or third person you see, there is where the iconic Coke glass bottle shows up. Then you see that Coke is saying it’s product can produce this affect of friends, peace, love and harmony. It then makes the argument of it not only produces this affect in America but shows different races of people all holding Coke bottles and singing in harmony with one another as it pans right to show more and more people. It argues that not matter what race, nationality or color of your skin; everyone can bond over a bottle of Coke.

This commercial was released in 1971, right after the civil rights movement hit its peak in the 60s. This was perfect timing for Coke to jump on this racial/political movement.  It uses this idea of politics but not only this idea of black inequality in America, they say at the end of the ad that they assembled these people from all over the world. You see this before they even say it so more predominantly it is arguing this equalism and peace among the world in it’s self. I feel the timing of the ad is merely using the civil rights movement as a spring board into this idea of world harmony. It makes you feel this is possible in the ad, you see all these people singing together with the biggest smiles on their faces and such an assortment of people in one place makes you feel good inside and makes you feel (just like Coke wants you too) like you can capture this happiness with people over a coke.

Rousseau says “extended. They accustomed themselves to assemble

before their huts round a large tree; singing and dancing, the true offspring of love and leisure, became the amusement, or rather the occupation, of men and women thus assembled together with nothing else to do” (Rousseau 6). He talks about his great connection of love and growing connection between these primitive people as a growing idea. Then when they start to become more deeply connected they start making comparisons to one another and thus inequality is born. This idea of coke bringing people together is a very romantic idea and Rousseau shows this as a form man letting go of his primitive nature and love and more intimate connections creating inequality, while this coke ad is arguing that love tied together by having a Coke can resolve these inequalities and differences. So it is interesting to see a weird contradiction here, the same thing Rousseau says helped create inequalities, Coke is arguing can solve it.