Cola War

Essay by tongkhangCollege, UndergraduateA+, May 2005

download word file, 4 pages 3.0

Downloaded 69 times

Commercials and soft drinks have become a part of everyday life in America. The combination of these pop-culture creations has made resisting the temptation of sugar based carbonated beverages virtually impossible for most. A well known soft drink war between Pepsi and Coca-Cola keeps new, edgy advertising techniques airing during commercial breaks of popular television viewing. Both companies have successfully sold their products despite different selling techniques used when it comes to advertising on television.

Perhaps one of the most significant factors that appear to account for differences is the variation of celebrity endorsements. Celebrity endorsements are a way in which Pepsi attracts their customers. Memorable commercials starring famous personalities such as Faith Hill, Jeff Gordon, Halle Berry, Cindy Crawford, and adorable child star Hallie Eisenburg catch the attention of women and men, both young and old. According to Pepsi.com, "Pepsi was the first consumer product to use a celebrity endorser when Barney Oldfield, auto racing pioneer, appeared in ads in 1909", and famous faces have appeared in ads ever since.

One of Pepsi's newest commercials titled, "Now and Then" shows pop-princess Britney Spears singing the phrase, "Pepsi, for those who think young". With a wink of Britney's eye, the problem of appealing to people both young and old is solved simply by, "showing Britney in the '60s and the '00s and giving the generations something to bond over." The sequential segments of this commercial are a brief review of the Pepsi generation.

This advertisement begins in the year 1958 and chronologically shows Britney fashionably wearing decadal clothes and singing alternate versions of the Pepsi song in a new year. The commercial ends with Britney dancing in the parking lot of a Pepsi diner in the year 2002 singing the words, "Come feel the joy all around, each generation has...