Let’s talk about BuzzFeed. A brilliant website to promote procrastination. Updated daily with trending topics from around the world. Writers as comical as Archie and the gang. Have you ever noticed these little “Promoted By: [insert brand name here]” taglines? Well I definitely have, and I always avoid them, even if the headline catches my interest. It’s the principle of it – I have this idea that marketers are trying to be sneaky and slide in some subliminal advertising in the middle of my mid-term exam season procrastination. Not okay. But, as a marketing student, these are the things I should be looking into with curious eyes and an open mind. So I did it. I opened the headline “10 Signs You’re In Desperate Need of A Vacation” by Diet Coke Canada. [*Strike one: the link title doesn’t even match the actual headline, as seen below]
First thing I noticed: Two links to Diet Coke before we even hit the content. The first connected me to the Facebook page, and the second brought me to all other content Diet Coke Canada has posted on BuzzFeed. On the right hand side we see the Diet Coke Instagram feed, Facebook activity and Twitter feed. Now onto the content: 10 Signs You’re In Desperate Need of A Vacation sounds right up my alley, so I’m into it.
“1. There’s literally nothing darker than the dark circles under your eyes… except perhaps your soul.”
Hmm…This sounds like your average BuzzFeed writer. Not the usual voice of the biggest multinational beverage corporation.
Reason 4. is complemented with a cat GIF: 
Again, not very Coca Cola Company-ish. Billions of advertising dollars and they use super low resolution cat GIFs?
“6. It’s almost closing time, and you haven’t had your afternoon soda yet.”
Okay, here we go. I see what they did there, casually throwing the word soda in the mix. This is followed by more funny, weird and random photos, with witty captions. Up until the end:
“Treat yourself to a much-deserved break with a Diet Coke.”
That wasn’t as painful as I expected! Kudos to Coke for creating content that has virtually nothing to do with their product. Maybe now I perceive the brand as funny and witty as BuzzFeed staff. And I admit, I do feel like I could use a vacation. And a Diet Coke. What about you?