Benetton / Coca Cola Advertising Comparitive Essay, Research Paper

Coca Cola Poster

URL: http://www.digital365.co.uk/images/coke.jpg AnalysisThis

essay is an analysis of two advertising posters, one of being a modern piece of

media, the other being aimed at the previous generation. I will be reviewing

posters from Coca Cola and Benetton, the latter being the modern piece of media

in this comparison.????? Firstly, I think it is important to

highlight the background of the corporations. Coca Cola is a household brand

name that is the world’s biggest soft drink company. As well as the flagship

drink, forms of merchandise such as posters, clocks, stationery and are a

another way that the Coca Cola diversifies to increase profits. Coca Cola sells

in virtually every country around the world, and is one of the most recognised

brands in history. And then there is Benetton. An Italian Company specialising

in the clothing sector of the economy. Only a few years ago they expanded into

a merger with American store SEARS, which eventually fell through on the

account of protests against the controversial Death Row Campaign by Oliviero

Toscani. Toscani’s vision of advertising did not include any gimmicks such as

soft sell; his prime intent was to produce images that would shock anyone who

saw them. His image of ‘reality-advertising’ caused many of his posters to be

banned. The multi-racial theme was one of the big talking points, and the

fortunes of Benetton increased drastically.????? Brand recognition is important for both

companies. Coca Cola uses white text on a red background, with the font being

classical and the wording being quite bold. Using red symbolises love and

loyalty, something that the corporation obviously wants in order for people to

buy the product again and again. Benetton for their logo uses a dark green box,

with the words ‘THE UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON’ in white text inside. This is

the logo that is invariably placed in all of Toscani’s work. The look of the

logo is very modern and fashionable to reflect the style of the clothing they

sell. Green also represents ‘go’, which is not unlike a traffic light that

indicates that you respond to signals that the poster is showing. In the

handcuff poster, the logo is in the top-right corner, and in terms of narrative

flow, would be seen second after seeing the handcuffs and the linked hands. In

the coca cola poster, it would be seen first because it is a t the top and in

the centre.????? I will now look at the main picture and

the messages they send. Both posters use hands, although for completely

different reasons. The Coca Cola poster shows a hand holding a cola bottle with

the slogan beneath reading ‘Ours is Ice Cold’. This makes you want to drink a

Coke because when you read ice cold you think of the refreshment that the drink

brings. In the case of the Benetton poster, the images shows one white and one

Black Hand linked by handcuffs. The initial thought is that the white hand is

that of the police man, but the truth is that the black hand is a Policeman’s,

arresting a white man. It also symbolises how black and white are linked

together in reality: In theory they don’t want to hold hands, they are forced

to be joined together in one world. In the coca cola advert the hand is white

presumably to target the mainstream audience where the majority of people of

white. The Coke poster has a border round the outside, perhaps to separate it

from other brands and other advertising around it. The Benetton ad has no

border but it looks modern and stylish without one. Another point about the

Benetton poster is that the white hand looks to be making a fist, which could

suggest how white men stereotypically have anger against black people. The

Black Hand is not making a fist, and this could be a view of Toscani’s that

black people aren’t as violent as people think.????? Coca Cola’s style of marketing is similar

to Disney’s, because there is no violence and everything is happy and peaceful.

Their audience is also families because anyone can drink coca cola and is not

restricted to certain ages. The Benetton ads may only be understood by those

over 16 because the images that they send are to do with the reality of the

world and aren’t fictional and sugar-coated to look better. Toscani’s posters

tell the world like it is, not because of economical failure (with the

exception of war and Death Row), but because of nature. The best example would

be the multi-racial poster that he produced in the early eighties of babies of

different ethnic origins hugging. The iconography on show has a level of

emotion that the human understands, and will drive them into buying the

products. Maybe if Toscani had not Juxtapositioned the handcuff poster there

would have been a better understanding of the meaning that the poster was

supposed to bring. Juxtaposing the Coca Cola picture may have not made much

difference because it is self-explanatory that the person is a man and it best

to leave it a mystery that it is.????? The dimensions of the Benetton poster make

it landscape, and this works best with the eyes because it will be seen more.

The shape of the Coke poster means that you have look at it from a skewed

perspective to see it at its best.