Coke vs. Coke Zero ad campaign
The Coca-Cola Company has come out with a humorous and novel ad campaign promoting Coke Zero referring to the fact that it contains zero calories. The TV ads for this campaign are what sparked my interest. Coke has set up multiple lawyers in believing that representative of Coca-Cola are serious about making a lawsuit against Coke-Zero, on what they claim to be taste infringement. I wanted to dissect these TV ads first using each cause of the Product Analysis Checklist (i.e. Formal, Material, Efficient, and Final), then I will further my discussion by using Slate’s “12 Kinds of Advertising.”
The Formal cause to this ad campaign is showcasing the soft drink, Coke-Zero presenting the distinguishing fact that it has zero calories and still manages to maintain that great original Coke taste. However among the six commercials, only one blatantly mentions that Coke and Coke-Zero taste similar, and all of the other commercials describe the similarity as a “Coke-Zero taste infringement.” This is pretty interesting because you have a company criticizing and comparing itself, only to come to the conclusion that both products taste the same. In my opinion these ads are pretty novel compared to the standard “comparison type” of ad, where Coke will just straight up claim their product to be better tasting than Pepsi.
The Material Cause would not be its ingredients, but its lack of ingredients. Coke-Zero contains no calories. This fact is very appealing and simple among our lazy calorie laden lives.
The Efficient Cause answers the question of who created the product, in which this case it’s quite obvious who created it, The Coca-Cola Company. The company found a process in which it could extract calories, further distinguishing it from other brands and products with the Coca-Cola Company.
The Final Cause answers the question of why the product was made. This product was made to appeal to people that want to watch and count their calories. Coke has made it easier for these people who can’t count by eliminating calories from the equation.
Lastly I wanted to discuss the possibilities as to what 12 types these ads could fall under.
The first on is the “comparison” claim. As I mentioned above, Coke has compared itself to itself in a way and deductively concluded by using the lawyers to show that it’s all the same thing.
The second is the “on going characters” claim. There are six of these commercial that use the same moronic business men making the same “taste infringement” claim in every commercial.
The third and last is the “unique personality property” claim. This true because zero calories is what makes this product stand out and unique.
