source: BusinessInsider.com

Coca-Cola’s Big Game commercial is one of the most talked about events from the Super Bowl, and for a good reason: the most recognized company in the world celebrated diversity during the most watched game in America. The ad featured the song ‘America the Beautiful’ sung in several languages, scenes with people of colour shown in a positive light, and two fathers rollerskating with their daughter. In terms of social justice, Coke’s #AmericaIsBeautiful campaign is a fantastic step towards getting more cultural and queer representation in media. In short, I’m thrilled by how this commercial celebrated the beauty of diversity.

But I actually love it for another reason: it was brilliant as an advertisement. Not only did it create an enormous amount of publicity for Coke, it also reinforced to viewers that Coke was truly a universally enjoyed drink. It’s reminiscent to McDonald’s advertisements, which uses the popularity of its products to encourage consumers to buy more. It was incredibly successful tactic for McDonald, and I think it will be equally successful for Coca-Cola. The feel-good message in the #AmericaIsBeautiful commercial is also to the company’s own benefit. There is no need for Coca-Cola to market Coke’s qualities as drink anymore, since the audience is almost certainly already familiar with it. It’s also very likely that everyone watching has, at least once, consumed a Coca-Cola beverage. Because the company is already in virtually every household in America, it can mainly increase sales by encouraging consumers to be loyal to their products and consume them more. By appealing to (most) people’s values and ideals they’re encouraging customer loyalty and engagement.

Kudos to the team at Coca-Cola who created the commercial. You certainly have a fan in me.

If you haven’t already seen it, here’s a link: Coca-Cola’s #AmericaIsBeautifulAd