Instead of using one simple print advertisement to show you how to use the 4 steps to analyze….We decided that we should give a brief, overall analysis on the changes in one company’s print advertisements over the years.
The company we chose is Coca-cola!
Why did we chose Coca-cola? Not only because they’re known for their print advertisements, but more importantly because people remember them!!!
This link has all the Coca-cola ad pictures from oldest to latest http://www.dirjournal.com/internet-journal/the-visual-tour-into-coca-cola-print-advertising/
The link shows the company’s print advertisement from the early 1890 all the way to 2002…
Looking through the ads, there are a few obvious things that you can notice:
- They used illustrated ads that look like vintage paintings from 1890 to 1929
- They upgraded in 1950 to still photos for their ads
- At the beginning they used slogans along with at least a 3 line description explaining the advertisement
- Most of the advertisements feature more than one person, which is a symbol of hospitality, friendship, sharing, companionship ..etc.
- The people in the ads are always smiling to show that their happiness comes from Coca-cola, which also connects friends
- The ads get simpler, more colorful, and less crowded with the years
- The time period that the ad is published in determines the slogan along with the theme (ex: during Christmas time)
- All the advertisements show even the slightest hint of red color, which is the company’s main color. Even though the logo is usually placed in the bottom corner or located somewhere on the actual ad, the advertiser did this to create a memorable brand image
- 1993 they associated their drink to a polar bear. You can tell that this wasn’t appealing since they were very quick to turn around the concept
- From 2002, they began linking the Coca-cola drink to colors, as a way to describe the Coke side of life
- During the 1990’s, Coca-cola used the same strategy that they started out with, and that was to use illustrations, but they updated it by using animations instead
- The advertisers want people to associate the drink with happiness, and feeling good..
From this we want you to learn that analyzing or deconstructing an advertisement doesnt always mean to uncover the hidden details or meanings. Analyzing is more than that..
The most important parts of an advertisement is to figure out the idea, target, and intention!
