Coca-Cola’s “Grandpa” Advertisement: Live like Grandpa did.

When The Coca-Cola Company was targeted as one of the leading contributors to obesity, the corporation used rhetoric and manipulation to fight back.  It began a new anti-obesity campaign to prove that Coca-Cola is a company that cares about its consumers’ well being.  The trusted brand of Coke allowed for them to preach statistics and advice that consumers believed to be true.  The “Grandpa” advertisement depicts how Coca-Cola used rhetoric in order to save itself from self-destruction instigated by health studies that claimed soda consumption led to obesity. It does so by comparing the lifestyles of a man in the 1950s/1960s to a man living in present day.  This juxtaposition shows audiences that life in the “good ole days” was not only healthier, but also happier.   

Here are some of the main points that I address in my analysis:

1.      With more and more scientific studies about how soda consumption leads to obesity, The Coca-Cola Company needed a new strategy to place blame on other factors.  In doing so, they began a “Coming Together” campaign as a part of their fight against obesity.  This campaign was all about presenting Coca-Cola as a health conscious corporation that was completely transparent to its consumers and dedicated to lowering obesity rates in the nation. 

2.      The company’s first step was to provide statistical information and data that showed how soda had very little impact on obesity.  Coca-Cola created its own graphic that minimized soda’s role in obesity in hopes of maximizing its sales.  By shifting the focus away from soda consumption and placing blame on other factors such as sedentary lifestyles and higher caloric diets, Coca-Cola cleared its name from a list of companies targeted for contributing to obesity.

3.      Ever since the beginning of the company’s anti-obesity campaign, Coca-Cola said that obesity was “a problem of this generation.”  In order to fix the problem, they advised consumers to live like their grandfather’s generation—a more stress-free, happier, and healthier time.  But by doing so, Coca-Cola used paternalistic innuendos and presented stereotypical gender roles throughout the entire commercial.  Audiences were surrounded by antiquated lifestyles that were manipulated into seeming as if the good ole days were actually a better, healthier time.

Discussion Questions:

1.      How does Coca-Cola use the popular idea of the “good ole days” to benefit its role in the fight against obesity?  Are the simple images presented on both sides of the split-screen commercial realistic of the time period, or are they motivated by business sales?

2.      Why do you think Coca-Cola chose to feature a grandpa and his grandson rather than a grandma and her granddaughter?  Who is the target audience and why do you think Coca-Cola chose to reach them in particular?