Marketing 3411
Extra Credit Essay
Due: Thursday, November 15, 2012
For the assignment, I searched many different popular brands for print advertisements. I chose the advertisement that caught my attention immediately and resonated the strongest with me. It is a Coca-Cola print ad. While I had much difficulty finding the exact time in which the ad was printed, through some research I was able to determine a time period around 2009 when the ad was published. This particular print advertisement for Coca-Cola depicts the classic “Coke” bottle shape which is emblazoned with the images of “American classics.” For example, the bottle shows images including a baseball, Elvis, the legendary image of the sailor and nurse kissing in Times Square, a classic car, Audrey Hepburn, etc… Many images aren’t immediately noticeable but you can see on closer inspection that the ad is literally covered with these ideas of classic American people, foods, pastimes, and more. Underneath the image lies the slogan of “A classic never goes out of style.” The slogan signifies the timelessness of Coca-Cola, and in my opinion it associates these great artists and great things with Coca-Cola. If there were a spot in heaven for all the legends of American history, Coke seems to say that it would be laying up there right next to Elvis. When I began to determine ways in which the advertisement could be modified and become more effective I had some difficulty. I chose this advertisement because it caught my attention more than the others and because I really liked the message and idea that it supported. It is the way I think of a glass bottle of coke: classic. But upon closer inspection, I can determine a few things about the advertisement that I believe could be changed and thus make it more effective and increase its likelihood to attract consumers. My first correction involves the color