General Discussion
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(8,554 posts)Better than the commercial.
Cha
(297,196 posts)It's Wow! So nice they made this one too.. I found it quite by accident.
TlalocW
(15,381 posts)I'm messing with them over there.
TlalocW
freshwest
(53,661 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)Cha
(297,196 posts)Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)and everyone here falls for it.
Have we forgotten how crappy of a company Coca-Cola is? The commercial was trying to sell us sugar water full of empty calories at the tune of American capitalism, and you all love it.
Diversity is awesome, but not when it's used as a selling point for pop.
Cha
(297,196 posts)rufus dog
(8,419 posts)To 30 percent of the voting public, aka the Republican base. That base will continue to piss and moan, but that was just a punch to the gut and they will ponder a bit before making stupid ass racist or homophobic statements.
Coke was going to sell more sugar water one way or another, so even if you don't see it, this is a victory.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)It's a victory for Coke.
rufus dog
(8,419 posts)Rather than playing servants, they were teachers or government agents. This pissed off the racists so much that some stations in the South refused to air the shows.
If you can't see it fine, but I suggest you step back and look at the forest, rather than planting your face against that big ass tree.
Cha
(297,196 posts)Thank you,
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)But then, if Coca-Cola is going to change its image, it's gotta go big. And it did. Now we need to pressure them to stop depleting aquifers around the world to sell people an unhealthy drink.
Here's Chipotle's commerical:
Generic Other
(28,979 posts)Transfer our favorable associations about ourselves as Americans to their product. Leni Wiesenthal could not have done better.
Minus the coke part, it would have meant a lot more.
Behind the Aegis
(53,956 posts)Did you mean to Godwin your "argument" and mean "Leni Riefenstahl?" Curious.
Generic Other
(28,979 posts)and it is not a Godwin argument to note the similarity between two propagandist film makers. There is a very real comparison. Both film makers glorified their subjects, played on nationalist feelings, manipulated emotions with false images (the third reich and coke), created slanted dishonest messages -- one for political purposes and one to sell a product.
Coke has a long history of creating corporate propaganda. DUers are usually quick to see through such finely tuned messages. They pretend they bring us all together in some form of coke worship. They appropriate the symbols of the nationalistic state in order to deflect from the real damage its product does to our health. The company has a history of aggressive tactics the world over. See their behavior in Latin America and in other parts of the world where they engage in environmentally destructive practices, questionable labor practices, etc. Not a nice company at all. Their ad strategies are a joke.
Maybe I am immune to their brainwashing as I do not consume their poison.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Even curious-er... people who believe Godwin's Law to be part and parcel of critical thought and rational thinking. Simplistic and meaningless internet memes seem to be as successful at branding as commercials themselves... regardless of the rationalizations made otherwise.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)Coke doesn't care about diversity. They only care about selling their product.
Marr
(20,317 posts)Coke is a massive company. This is just advertising. Very expensive, laser-targeted advertising. People can be so naive.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)love the commercial but not love the product?
mountain grammy
(26,620 posts)Nutrition for the mind, not the body. It's a beautiful message and I for one appreciate it.
demwing
(16,916 posts)nobody "falls for it," and you're wrong.
Diversity IS awesome, EVEN when it's used as a selling point for pop. The underlying message in the video was more powerful than any ad campaign, and it's you that has fallen for a line.
You believe that the strength of unity in diversity can be diminished by a Coca-Cola logo.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)No. They don't.
It was used as a selling feature and it worked.
demwing
(16,916 posts)Do their motives change the value of the message at all? No one here is suddenly excited about Coke - it's the message that matters, not the messenger. Abe Lincoln was a Republican. Does that diminish the value of the Gettysburg address?
Really! Are you saying that only good people can do good things?
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)Nothing more. Advertising 101: manipulate people's emotions so they buy your product.
If it was truly a message about diversity, there would NOT have been one Coke in that commercial.
demwing
(16,916 posts)thanks for sharing.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)But whatever.
demwing
(16,916 posts)do you think the words of the people in the commercial were heartfelt expressions, or marketing plays. When the gay man cried, were they tears of joy, or was he just really excited about Coke's bottom line?
You'll see what you want, I guess.
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)Again, Advertising 101: manipulate people's emotions so they buy your product.
demwing
(16,916 posts)Despite your cynicism (or maybe because of it) the ad seems to have made you think about Coke much more than it did for me
Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)I have no faith in the human race.
Cha
(297,196 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I don't think recognizing a commercial as good or entertaining is equivalent to "failing for it". However, I imagine that pretending as such may allow one the pretense of more-clever-than-thou for at least one more day.
Cha
(297,196 posts)Cha
(297,196 posts)joshcryer
(62,270 posts)As well as the way Americans overcome those problems.
That's what being an American is about.
America is one of the most progressive states on the planet whether the so called liberals here want to accept it or not.
We'll have gay marriage legalized soon, marijuana legalized possibly sooner, single payer health care a little bit later. Then we'll get a living wage. At that point the so called liberals or progressives will be hard pressed to find something to complain about. Perhaps the security state. But if you go by the UK, probably not, since its security state (the most survalling state on the planet) is mostly ignored.
Cha
(297,196 posts)Stated beautifully
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)I actually commented halfway through (when the problems and overcoming them was mentioned, like the gay guys being shunned and the white guy marrying the non-white lady was shunned). I couldn't help but tear up by the end. Wonderful video. Watching it again right now.
Cha
(297,196 posts)I was totally tearing up..
Behind the Aegis
(53,956 posts)Cha
(297,196 posts)knew Coke had it in them?!
Behind the Aegis
(53,956 posts)I had to recommend and comment, because some of the other comments are really irritating.
Cha
(297,196 posts)Behind the Aegis
(53,956 posts)I bet he is cute!
heehee
(Don't tell my partner! )
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Yeah yeah, evil Coca Cola, OF COURSE they did it for profits ultimately. However, the message in this video and the Super Bowl commercial hopefully will live on in the hearts of Americans. The commercial was a trillion times better than some insipid beach party kind of commercial. If they make an extra penny of profit from the commercial, cool. I'm NOT buying any Coke products just because of the commercial. Forest and trees, nuff said.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)They removed GMOs from their product line. I think we can possibly get Coca-Cola to change theirs, too. Go back to the sugar cane formula. Hell, it could even open relations back up with Cuba if it's done right.
I of course don't drink soda that much at all, and this commercial didn't make me want to, but it's a touching commercial.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Cha
(297,196 posts)Cha
(297,196 posts)Behind the Scenes that are Important, imv.
I haven't had a coke or any soda for a long time but somebody needed to get a beautiful statement out on diversity to the Nation and what better time than the Super Bowl?
Response to Cha (Reply #28)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Cha
(297,196 posts)Poor things to think that.. sooo delusional!
Donna~
alittlelark
(18,890 posts)Loved it in the early 80's.... pre- HFCS
Ur ads are cute, but your product is shit.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)We got an opportunity here to get sugar cane back into the recipe!
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Last edited Mon Feb 3, 2014, 01:48 PM - Edit history (1)
have real sugar, not HFSC. I'm not a soda drinker but my husband is and he prefers Coke and I know he prefers the ones in the bottles. I know they manufacture bottled Coke in Mexico and import it into the states. If I can't find it in the regular grocery stores, I can go to one of the grocery stores that specialize in Mexican food ingredients and find it there. A lot of Mexican food restaurants around here (Central California) offer it as well.
LiberalArkie
(15,715 posts)SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)the ethnic foods section as they are imported from Mexico. I hate Coke, except for those glass bottles. They are the way that shit is supposed to taste.
alittlelark
(18,890 posts)Hit Costco every 2-3 weeks.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,233 posts)Cha
(297,196 posts)Tarheel~ The America we love~
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)The issues those of unique situations face in this country are still challenging, but they face them, and that's what makes them special. And fortunately as they faced them they became accepted even more, which is what it's about.
I'll never forget that "What Would You Do" with the gay couple:
That's America.
Here's another one in Texas, of all places, where a "gay couple" is defended by everyday Texan's:
Cha
(297,196 posts)I saw the first one and will have to come back for the second. It's so heartwarming to see people standing up for love in the face of outspoken bigotry.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)So here's my late REC! Amazing video. Better than than the original by far.
zazen
(2,978 posts)And it whitewashes their labor and environmental rights abuses in South America.
There's also a subtle Horatio Alger "if I only work hard enough and get enough education I can have the American dream" message, which makes systemic economic privilege and racism more difficult to combat.
Having said that, I do believe the perfect is the enemy of the good. First, that Coca Cola could and would make a commercial like this is a testament to how hard activists have worked before them to make these conversations acceptable enough to 50% of the population that Coke would risk pissing off the other half.
Second, they're certainly going in the right direction, and even though it's sad that our national conversation is led by 60 minute commercials instead of widespread literacy you even saw with dirt farmers in the 19th century, it's an improvement and an effort at redemption. And I gotta appreciate that. And the obvious sincerity of the people in the commercial.
demwing
(16,916 posts)CanonRay
(14,101 posts)It's a totally positive message. Those reacting negatively point out exactly the hate filled racism and xenophobia we're up against from the right wing. It's like the conservatives drop their human masks for a moment to show the monsters that lie below.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)K & R
This is great. Thanks for shRing
Cha
(297,196 posts)randr
(12,412 posts)A new sense of what being an American means, a new definition of our purpose, and open arms to each other as fellow travelers through this immense universe.
rdking647
(5,113 posts)america the beautiful was written by a lesbian who left the GOP over their increasing xenophobia
Cha
(297,196 posts)this thread, rdking!