Tally Pugh's Research
and Pop
Culture
| Synopsis: For over 100
years,
Coca-Cola as a brand name has define popular culture. It has inspired
songs, clothing, cookbooks and games. I wanted to track Coca-cola
and its effect on the American public. Coke, as a symbol of American
dominance, pride, ingenuity and capitalism impresses me. I am interested
in how the brand name has been able to define American culture for generations.
|
| I visited Coca-Cola over Spring Break and was impressed with the long-standing
tradition of Coca-Cola advertisements depicting American life. The
Norman Rockwell-like scenes that show Santa Clause drinking a Coke have
become icons of the 1950s. Coke has become not only a drink, but
a way of life. My goal was to find out how this happened.
I was also impressed that I, along with thousands of other people, was
willing to pay $5 to visit the Coca-Cola museum. The reason I did
so is that I have many fond memories of Coke commercials and jingles.
They take me back my childhood when having a Coca-Cola shirt was the definition
of cool. Once again, I am awed by the effect a product can have on
culture.
|
| This topic is interesting because, while many have tried, very few
brand names have succeeded in becoming a cultural icon. When you
go to a foreign country and ask for a Coke, everyone knows what that is,
and they know it is American. I would venture to say that to be American
is to drink Coke, and although some people may not like it, everyone had
tried Coke at some point. Oreo, Hershey and Levi's have also reached
the status of American icons, but I am specifically interested in how Coke
did it.
|
| The Web is a good source for information on Coca-Cola, because it is
easily searchable. There are vast amounts of information on brand
names and strategies for making them successful. Plus, Coca-Cola
has its own web page designed to give information about the brand and its
history. Finally, it is a good way to find out what the public likes.
The web is easy to operate and, because of that, many people use it as
a way of expressing themselves and their interests. There are a vast
number of personal sites devoted to Coca-Cola and Coke memorabilia.
This is a good indication that it is an icon. The web is a good place
to study general attitudes about people.
|
World Wide Web Sources:
"Coca-Cola Mission"
<http://www,cocacola.com/co/mission.html>
[Accessed 10 April 1998].
This site details the mission statement of Coca-Cola by stating that
its goal is to keep satisfied customers, use abundant resources wisely
and make Coca-Cola the world's most effective trademark. This site is helpful in aqauinting
researchers with Coca-Cola, but it does not offer much help in determining the brand's
success as an icon. It is a good place to start, but if you are human and have heard of
Coca-Cola, you can bypass this page.
"Coca-Cola Enterprises"
<http://www.cokecce.com>
[Accessed 10 April 1998].
This site gives financial information about the company including stockholder
reports, news releases and employee information. While this information
is not directly related to Coca-Cola as a popular icon, it does offer some
insight into the popularity of the brand. If sales are doing well,
then people like the product. On the whole, this page is helpful
for finding statistical information that supports the idea that Coke is a
cultural icon, but this page really only tells you that people are buying
the product, not living by it.
"Coca-Cola: The Soda Counter"
<http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/3909/index.html>
[Accessed 16 April 1998].
This web page provides links to pages that have marketing information,
including advertisements, about Coca-Cola products. It also provides
a place where memorabilia lovers can virtually shop for Coke goods.
The success of this site proves that there are people in the world who
will spend a lot of money on Coke items. It is definitely a cultural
icon. Plus, the diversity of items sold indicates that people do
not buy Coke stuff because they need a straw holder, but because it bares
the Coke emblem. This page is a good place to find the many types of Coca-Cola
products on the market and the success people have in trading them.
"Junyor's Coke Page"
<http://www5.palmnet.net/~junyor>
[Accessed 15 April 1998].
A personal web page that demonstrates this young man's knowledge of
the Coca-Cola brand and his passion for collecting Coke memorabillia.
He has many scanned images of the Coke logo and of his extensive collection
of Coke gadgets and clothes. While this page does not provide any
statistical information about the popularity of the brand name, it shows
that Coke has made an impact on pop culture. Junyor's page is not
the only one devoted to worshipping the Coca-Cola name. The product
has had an impact on culture if people are willing to donate their own
time to promoting it on the web.
Other Reference Sources:
This book outlines the "golden years" of Coca-Cola. It was during this time that Coke started using celebrity endorsements and really pushed the brand on the public. The book is a great source for photographical proof of Coke's popularity as well as a good source for advertisements (although most of those were drawings at the time and not photographs). The book is well made but is very pro-Coca-Cola. It is a good source for collectors of Coke memorabilia, but since it is limited in its scope (it only goes through 1969), it cannot be used to trace Coke's entire history as a cultural icon.
This book has a lot of information about Coca-Cola's rise to the top. It starts from the beginning when Coke was only sold at soda fountains and goes year-by-year to show how Coke gradually made it to the mainstream. He includes advertising samples and marketing strategies. The only problem with this book is that is written in a very businesslike manner. It concentrates in the financial aspects of Coke's success and does not dedicate much time to Coke's place in the heart's and mind's of Americans.
This the perfect source for Coca-Cola marketing strategies. It details the Coke legacy from its beginnings in drug stores to its current presence as an international product. It outlines strategic marketing information, advertising plans and sales ploys, including target audiences. The only problem with this book is that it does not have copies of advertisements. This book tells exactly how Coke became the pop icon that it is today. Unlike the Allen book, this one is very reader-friendly.
Oliver must have been very upset about the decision to retire old Coke in the early 1980s, because he wrote an entire book describing the event, leading up to and including that decision, announcement and subsequent reversal. This book works very well as a case study on what not to do when your brand has control of the market (namely remove it from the market). However, this book does not explain why Coke is a cultural icon or how it became that way, so it does not help to clarify this topic.
As the title says, this book celebrates Coke's 100 year anniversary. It is full of nice pictures and letters from famous people wishing Coke happy birthday. It gives a quick overview of the company's history and popularity and would be a good preliminary source for this topic. The bad aspect of this book is that it is written by Beverage World primarily as a public relations piece glorifying Coca-Cola. It is very biased. Anyone who reads this will think that Coke is the only cabonated beverage on the market.
General comments:
Information found on the web is different from book sources, because most of it is written from a specific point of view. While books are often written to prove a point, they usually show both sides of the issue and then endeavor to explain the book author's views in more depth. Most of the web information is put on by individuals or corporation merely for entertainment purposes or to advertise for the company.
Web information is not as specific or in-depth as book information. It is a good overview of what the person or company that published it thinks, but it does not usually cover topics fully. I believe this comes from the fact that web publishing is inexpensive and easy, while print publication requires a lot more time and money. You must prove that you are a good writer before a company will pay for your work to be published.
The web is an easier source to use, because it is always available and
can be accessed at home, but there is no guarantee that the information
will still be in the same place the next day.
For serious research, I would rather use traditional print resources,
because I consider them to be more credible sources. They are rarely
filled with blatant propaganda like the web exhibits.
 | Contact me at tpugh@email.unc.edu. |
This page maintained by Tally Pugh.