The Evolution of Coca-Cola Ads

It is quite possibly the most popular carbonated beverage in the world. Nearly every vending machine, gas station, and restaurant offers it. When it comes to the media, advertisements for it pop up everywhere. Ever since its birth in 1886, Coca-Cola has ruled the beverage industry.  Being around for 130 years now, I wondered how such a drink has managed not only to remain relevant, but also in high demand. After some research, the answer became clear: Changing and adapting advertising to keep up with modern appeal.

I began with taking a look at the history of Coke's various marketing techniques and appeals. In its early years, one of the brand's main slogans was "Coca-Cola Revives and Sustains." The drink was presented as an energy boost when a person felt tired or sleepy. Marketed almost like medicine, posters claimed that Coke was the "lifter of fatigue" for weary, hard-working men and women. The ads appealed to plain folks, and claimed to provide a simple solution. Any working-class American could beat out exhaustion with a cool glass of Coca-Cola.

A number of Coca-Cola's slogans have centered around quenching thirst. Coke have been advertised for over 100 years as the best way to satisfy the physiological need of thirst. With ads having words like "ice-cold," "crisp," and "refreshing" in bold, one of the company's target appeals is obvious and clear.

Coca-Cola has never shied away from the appeal to an American's patriotism. Slogans such as "Red, White, and You," and "America's Real Choice," attempt to connect to an individual's national pride. The brand has managed to become the number one soda in the country. To some, you aren't completely American until you indulge yourself in a Coke, which goes back to the drink's patriotic appeal and influence. 

An emotion that Coke has been heavily pushing since 2009 is happiness. The motivation behind the ads is to have consumers believe that happiness can only be achieved through drinking the beverage. Some coke posters simply say, "Open Happiness." Again with the simple solutions technique, the idea being communicated is that if you need to feel happiness then simply drink Coke.

With 2015's "Share a Coke" campaign, the need for affiliation was being directly targeted. Commercials would portray a gloomy looking outcast being invited into a lively social group by being handed a bottle of the drink. It was as if the only way to make it into a social would be by getting invited with a bottle of Coke. Consumers began giving bottles of Coke to others, with the name of the recipient printed on the label. Coke was making consumers feel like they had the power to satisfy other's need to be affiliated.

The most recent Coke ads seen across all platforms have made it seem certain things can't be achieved or experienced without the drink. In one commercial, a boy and girl discover true love when they reach for the same Coke can at an amusement park. Another ad has a father and daughter get into an intense fight, yet they immediately make up when the dad gives the girl a bottle of Coca-Cola. The drink is effectively trying to have consumers associate its product with essentials such as love and family. At this rate, I'm truly wondering how far Coke will go to make itself part of Americans' everyday lives, feelings, and conflicts.