Research: Advertising and branding

          Advert 1: Coca Cola Eyes Closed                                    Advert 2: Coca Cola Pool Boy

American teenage life is represented as fun, care free and adventurous in the first advert as everything featured is, or is related to, high energy activities that the majority of people would find thrilling or at least enjoyable. It therefore conveys that American teenage life is exciting and always exhilarating, as if there is never a boring moment, so long as you have a Coca-Cola to Drink.

The second advert on the other hand represents a more normal style of American teenage life, sitting at home and admiring an attractive pool boy, which would be expected of teenage girls. It does however, show a teenage boy also admiring the pool boy which automatically shows the viewer that Coca-Cola as a brand does not discriminate non-traditional sexuality and is challenging the stereotypical love-sick teenage girl. This advert shows the more comedic side of realistic day to day life, of brother and sister fighting to get to the pool boy first and get his attention however their mother has already solved the problem, giving him a Coca-Cola.  Despite how different the two adverts are they both show the fun side of it all, whether it is going out or staying in, it represents how American teenage life can be anything you want it to be if you make it that way, but typical things within the family will still happen.

In the first advert America overall is represented as an action packed place that offers so many things to do for a wide variety of people, whether they are younger, older, white or otherwise it demonstrates that in America everyone is treated equally and is entitled to have fun and enjoy themselves. This matches the stereotype of America being a free country where you can become anyone you want to and fulfil your wildest dreams. The second advert represents America as very similar to other countries in that comedic and silly things happen within the family that cannot be helped and bring you closer together as a family, portraying that however wild your life may be, in America you will always be having a good time.

The representation of America and American teenage life in the first advert may be attractive to teenagers living in Britain as it shows only the best parts of living an American life as an American teenager, such as going to festivals, music concerts and theme parks and not things that every teenager has to go through such as school and college. This would therefore make teenagers in Britain think that being an American teenager is much easier and much more fun, making it attractive to them as it offers something different and more interesting than what most people experience. The second advert on the other hand would not necessarily be seductive to teenagers living in Britain but would comfort them as it shows that although living in America may be wild and adventurous, that normal things within families still happen and family drama, no matter how silly it may be still occurs, even in America. Stuart Halls theory about representation can be applied here. “Representation is the process by which meaning is created through the use of language, signs and images which stand for or represent things” For example, in the first advert the series of clips of a variety of people engaging in thrilling activities represents Americans as a whole as people who enjoy these kind of activities.

I do not think that adverts such as the first one erode cultural differences completely as I believe they will always be there in a way intentionally or not as different cultures honour different things that other cultures may not agree with, so there will always be some differences there. I do, however think it shows that no matter what cultural background you come from, in America you can be accepted and are welcomed to enjoy what America as a country offers. It portrays how people from different cultures can enjoy things together but I don’t think that this causes the cultural differences to just disappear. The second advert, in my opinion, also does not erode cultural differences as it only features people from one culture. Despite this, it could show that there is not as much differentiation between cultures as some people may think there is, as people from other cultures most likely also go through the same or similar things. This would mean it slightly erodes some cultural differences as it portrays what most families go through, however it does not confirm that families from other cultures go through the same thing, therefore it still does not erode cultural differences.