Fifty Years of Coca-Cola Ads

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Fifty Years of Coca-Cola Ads

• Venina Haley
• Parker Academy
• Furman University
• Fall 2001

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Coca-Cola An Advertising Genius

• This presentation features 50 years of Coca-Cola
• advertisements and historical marketing success.
• Many sources attribute Coca-Colas ad success
• to ALWAYS reflecting American life, culture
• and events in their ad campaigns.

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CollageCoca-Cola Ads 1886-1899
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1900-1915
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1916-1927
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1928-1939
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1940-1949
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COCA-COLA

• How Coca-Cola was invented
• The DArcy Advertising Era 1950-1956
• McCann Era 1956-1969
• Look Up America 1970-1975

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COCA-COLA

• Coke Adds Life and Mean Joe Greene 1976-1981
• Coke Is It! And New Coke 1982-1985
• Two Tastes and Two Campaigns 1986-1992
• Polar Bears and International Approaches 1993-2000

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How was Coca-Cola Invented?

• Coca-Cola was originally a nerve tonic, stimulant
  and headache remedy.
• Prohibition in 1886 caused physician Dr. John S.
  Pemberton to rename and rewrite his popular
  formula.
• Renamed Pembertons French Wine Cola

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The DArcy Era1950-1956
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The DArcy Era1950-1956

• The successful relationship between DArcy and
  Coca-Cola begin in 1906, when the agency
  persuaded Coca-Cola to begin newspaper ads.

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The DArcy Era1950-1956

• Other ads were created as early as 1886.
  Coca-Cola, however, experienced historical
  advertising success when they paired with the
  DArcy agency.

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D'Arcy Era 1950-1956

• DArcy agency created Coca-Colas first
  television ad in 1950, which aired on
  Thanksgiving Day.
• The television market was a struggle-since most
  cities did not have stations and most homes did
  not have televisions.

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The DArcy Era

• An internal memo from 1951 validates the struggle
  both Coca-Cola and DArcy had in making
  television a successful market.
• In 1953, DArcy creates its first live-action
  television ads. These prove to be a success.

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From DArcy to McCann1956-1969
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McCann Era1956-1969

• Coca-Cola switches to the McCann-Erickson agency
• (DArcy, a major print ad agency, still had
  difficulties with new media, and DArcy dies)

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McCann Era 1956-1969

• McCann launches several new campaigns
• The Sign of Good Taste
• Be Really Refreshed

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McCann Era 1956-1969

• Ads rose greatly during this period.
• 1958 TV becomes a household fixture
• 1963 Things Go Better with Coke
• This campaign had world wide appeal
• 1964 First color ad- Refrigerator Man
• 1967 Popular artists sing jingles

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McCann Era 1956-1969

• The most famous ad campaign during this time was
  the Hilltop commercial.
• This ad featured the popular song Id Like to
  Buy the World a Coke.
• (Bill Backer from Charleston, SC)

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Look Up America1970-1975
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Look Up, America 1970-1975

• Coca-Cola faced a major challenge.
• They needed a new campaign to reflect American
  life.
• The Look Up, America campaign was a positive spin
  due to political uncertainty from Watergate and
  President Nixons resignation.

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Look Up, America 1970-1975

• The Look Up, America ads featured everyday
  American scenes
• Football players
• Cattle herders
• Country/Western singers, etc.

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Look Up, America 1970-1975

• The Look Up, American campaign was so successful,
  Advertising Age magazine (1974) named Donald
  Keough, president Adman of the Year.

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Coke Adds Life and Mean Joe Green 1976-1981
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Coke Adds Life and Mean Joe Green 1976-1981

• The Coke Adds Life campaign focused on the young
  at heart and highlighted the concept that
  Coca-Cola adds enjoyment to life.
• Coca-Cola continued to adapt campaigns to
  worldwide audiences.

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Coke Adds Life and Mean Joe Green 1976-1981

• Have a Coke and a Smile campaign
• Emphasized the reliability and reward in drinking
  Coca-Cola.
• Used famous actors during this campaign.
• Featured people from all walks of life.

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Coke Adds Life and Mean Joe Green 1976-1981

• Mean Joe Greene was the most famous ad during
  this ad period.
• VERY popular ad
• Won 1979 CLIO award
• International version
• Movie made

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Coke is It and New Coke 1982-1985
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Coke Is It! And New Coke 1982-1985

• Coke Is It campaign emphasized the quality of
  taste and refreshment.
• Appealed to the straight forward mood of
  Americans
• Coke Is It also stressed the quality, the
  enjoyment and anticipation of drinking Coca-Cola.

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Coke Is It! And New Coke 1982-1985

• New Coke (1985) ironically showed Coca-Cola that
  the original formula was preferred.
• Americans wanted the original formula.
• Coke responded with Coca-Cola Classic.

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Two Tastes and Two Campaigns1986-1992
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Two Tastes and Two Campaigns1986-1992

• Two campaigns had to be developed because
• Coke and Coca-Cola Classic were on the market.
• Catch the Wave (1986) campaign had a
• contemporary feel. It appealed to youth.
• Coke created a computerized spokesperson Max
• Headroom.
• Max was incredibly popular. Coca-Cola received
• more calls and inquiries than for any other
• campaign.
• Voted top ad campaign in 1986

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Two Tastes and Two Campaigns1986-1992

• For Coca-Cola Classic, The Red, White and You
  campaign focused on the stability of the original
  formula and the overwhelming support from
  Americans to bring it back.

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Two Tastes and Two Campaigns1986-1992

• Cant Beat the Feeling campaign showed
  Coca-Cola as part of everyday life-from a first
  date to family get togethers.

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Polar Bears and International Approaches at the
Millenium1993-2000
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Polar Bears and International Approaches at the
Millennium1993-2000

• Always Coca-Cola used animated graphics.
• Took twelve weeks to complete one ad.
• The animated polar bear became another VERY
  popular and successful ad campaign.

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Polar Bears and International Approaches at the
Millennium1993-2000

• Always Coca-Cola continued.
• Used a lot of humor, music, stories, and
  animation.
• 1998 first international commercial. (Coke
  usually made commercials for the American culture
  and then adapted them to various countries and
  cultures).

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Polar Bears and International Approaches at the
Millennium1993-2000

• Coca-Cola. Enjoy began the 2000 ad campaign.
• This campaign focused on the magic drinking Coke
  brings.
• First Experience and Snowflake ads.

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Coca-Cola , a commercial product, became a
lasting symbol of American culture
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Bibliographic Index
The graphic images used in this presentation were
selected from several sites. The major sites were
from the Library of Congress-American Memory
Collection. EVERY graphic is LINKED to its
original source. So, as you view the
presentation and like the graphic, you may arrive
at the site of origin to select the graphic
yourself. In addition to the individual links,
please find an overall index of the sites used
for this Power point presentation. http//memory.l
oc.gov/ammem/ccmphtml/colahist.html http//memory.
loc.gov/ammem/ccmphtml/colatime3.html http//funli
st.com/www/coke/pix/dc001_f.html http//members.ao
l.com/daclassic1/stuff1.htm http//www.jonsullivan
.com/topic/things-g.au If you have any additional
questions, please e-mail me.