The Real Thing
Coca-Cola. By all reports its one of the world’s best known brands. Now while it may not have the same implications as say, reinforcing the class divide, I think that the advertising campaigns behind the soft drink are a fantastic example of hegemony, due to the simple fact that they have not only made drinking Coke into something normal, but as the ad (from the 1969 campaign) above demonstrates, natural. Now while this may seem rather lacking in insidiousness I think it speaks volumes to the power and penetration of advertising.
Coca-Cola, despite what the company would have you believe, is not healthy: in fact it is the very opposite. So why is it in every gas station, supermarket, and quite possibly college across the country? Because the advertising campaigns that have been going on since the turn of the previous century have all led to Coke (the thing made carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, “natural flavors” and, my personal favorite: phosphoric acid) being accepted as a natural part of the American diet. This is of course very good for the business of the Coca-Cola company, as well as the thousands of restaurants and chains (most notably McDonalds) who reap the benefits of paring the “real thing” with their food.
Now to the at the top of the page perfectly illustrates the naturalness of the drink by using the word real in the slogan the bottom, and placing the concoction on the middle of a table laden with things that are actually nutritious. This makes the point that Coca-Cola is as natural those things, and thus a natural thing to have in one’s diet. The fact that Coke is most certainly not any of those things is why I believe this to be such a striking example of hegemony. This and all the other ads which have been in every medium imaginable have created an idea of Coca-cola that replaces the reality of the thing in order for the company, and all others with a stake in the drink to make money.
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