The Assignment: Watch each of the Coke-Cola commercials below. There is one commercial for each decade starting from the 1950s through today. As you are watching, take notes on the impact each has on you as a viewer. Think about the “story”, design elements, length, and anything else that stands out. What rhetorical appeals are represented in each? What claims are being made in each? What assumptions? How do these fit the “cause and effect” narrative that we have discussed on the impact of advertising on pop culture?
The Purpose: To develop primary research skills; to analyze primary artifacts and determine their impact on pop culture.
This is an assignment that I use in my Intro to Composition classes for college freshmen. I like it because it helps them work with actual primary research artifacts – Coke commercials – to analyze pop culture in modern, post-WWII, times. In addition, it introduces students to a historical perspective of pop culture that many have never experienced or heard about prior to working with this assignment. Black and white TV? Only three main stations? Oh, the horror!!!
Kidding aside, these Coke commercials are gems. True cultural icons represent the evolution of mass media technology, music, and cultural values among other things. And, over the years as I have worked with this ‘assignment’ I became interested in all things Coke – the impact on not only our culture but the global culture as well. Therefore, when I saw the book:
“The Sparkling Story of Coca-Cola: An Entertaining History Including Collectibles, Coke Lore and Calendar Girls” by Gyvel Young-Witzel and Michael Karl Witzel,
I was immediately drawn to it.
It’s one of those ‘coffee table’ type of books – large in size, many colorful images – but it has a great deal of depth as well and is actually a very good read. It is more than the story of Coke. It is actually a historical look at the emergence of carbonated water from the natural springs in places like Vichy, France to Saratoga Springs, New York, and how this ties to the industry such as bottling; the history and evolution of Pharmacy and ‘medicine’; the evolution of the business model from serving customers at the establishment to personal delivery; and the expansion of the consumer base from products for the wealthy to products for consumers in all economic classes. And then some! Truly Coke is the product used to exemplify these other areas, although there is obviously a lot of “Coke history” as well.
Along with the very interesting text, there are countless images with detailed descriptions of ‘Coke Collectibles’. These speak to the evolution of advertising and marketing. In fact, there are so many of these images I found it a bit overwhelming when trying to focus on the actual text. I decided to ignore some of these, read through the text, then go back and catch more of the images with their very detailed descriptions. Truthfully, the book is so rich in content I’m still finding things that I missed the first two times around.
And so, at least for me, I have enjoyed, and am still enjoying, this book a great deal. Along with it’s the entertaining aspect that brings me down memory lane at times (I remember going to the springs in Saratoga as a young girl with my dad – who loved the taste of the water), it has provided additional perspectives on pop culture and the use of example in writing, for me to work into my classes!
A very good ‘dog-eared’ find.