by Oana Naiman
In order to
enhance the awareness towards their products, the Coca-Cola Company invested in
media advertising, using a marketing strategy called “creative excellence”. “Coca-Cola
Border Guards” advertisement shows the story of two soldiers from rival nations
who are able to put aside their differences and, for the briefest of moments,
see each other as individuals, as they share a bottle of Coke.
First of
all, the media product emphasizes a tough and critical situation in a humorous manner;
the two soldiers are too responsible of following their missions, acting
ridiculously both being too proud and having a hostile behavior. An ice-cold
bottle of Coke is the only solution that can bring them together, at least for
one moment, a small step in order to become closer, “friends and not enemies”.
Furthermore,
in my opinion, this advertisement can not be appalling for those who feel as
they are “on the top of the world”. Even though the characters and their behavior
might be annoying for someone who is in a bad mood, it is almost impossible not
to have a little smile on you face at the end of the commercial. The ridiculous
story tells us that no matter how big a problem is and no matter how many
enemies are against us, there is always a solution for everything.
The
music, as one of the greatest means of affecting the particular mood of the
audience watching the production, is perfect for that period of time (the
action might happened in the first half of the 20th century). A new
war is about to come, and the two rival soldiers are ready to sacrifice their
own lives in order to protect their countries and their homeland. The song is an orchestrated version of
"Keyboard suite in D minor, Sarabande" by George Frideric Handel.
The
advertisement allows us to gain pleasure by giving us permission to interact
with a different world and different people who lived more than one thousands
years ago. The two characters are ready to face death anytime, by working in
the army. Nowadays, we can not understand a situation like that, just because
we have never been involved in a dramatically and dangerous war; all our
knowledge about war comes from history classes, books, movies or documentaries.
In
my opinion, “Coca-Cola
Border Guards” is a successful advertisement!