This advert for Coca Cola was released in the 2020 holiday season and, because of the nature of advertising, it’s aim is to sell us a product, despite the heartwarming presentation of it all.
This is a trend common in christmas advertising, as people will see them as different than other adverts because they have a more wholesome, warm feeling to them than the adverts the rest of the year, but is this the case?
This advert is a simple one, it tells a straightforward story about a boy going to see the famous Coca Cola lorry drive past. These lorries have become a big pop culture icon themselves, usually making real life appearances near christmas, and here in this advert they are decked out in hundreds of sparkling lights. From this we see the main idea, to dress up the Coca Cola brand as a shiny, luxurious figure in the soft drink industry, and more importantly they do everything they can to associate the Coke name with the image of Santa Claus plastered on the back.
From a historical perspective, Coke and Father Christmas go way back. While some may tell you that Coca Cola created Santa Claus, this isn’t necessarily true, however they did shape him into the character we know today. His colour scheme is red and white, the same as Coca Cola, and so when watching this advert there is that element of cohesiveness that makes the two things seem like they go together naturally when in reality, what does Santa have to do with a fizzy drink?
As well as this, we see a plethora of happy looking cheerful and amazed at the sight of the Coca Cola lorry. In the crowd we see happy families and smiling children, and so this advert enforces the idea that this brand will bring a smile to your face and keep your kids happy, which from a moral standpoint is a little seedy considering the unhealthy nature of the product. This is the most important thing about this advert i think, as despite the christmas imagery of the stars and decorations, and jolly old St Nick himself, it is advertising an unhealthy, unnecessary product and lifestyle choice to an extremely young demographic, as seen in the protagonist being a child and again, the use of Santa Claus.
So, are christmas adverts any better than the adverts on the rest of the year? I’d argue no, as in this case alone we can see the charade of christmas being used to push a poor quality product to a young audience and it’s brushed under the rug because we are too distracted by the animated, winking Santa Claus.
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