Sunday 13 March 2011

COKE- ADVERTISING FOR THE SEXES.

There are the obvious differences in advertising when trying to appeal to the different sexes. For example there is going to be a different marketing ploy when selling tampons than there is when selling men’s shaving razors. However it is not very often that we see the same product with a minor difference being marketed in two completely different ways for different sexes.
I am of course taking about Coke, Coke Zero and Diet Coke. It came to my attention when at the cinema last night that it is almost as though there are two completely different products when in actual fact there is a minor difference in ingredients and labels.
Diet Coke is advertised to women, with an advert that looks like a chick-flick in puppet form and also promotions that offers the customer a free nail polish when purchasing two bottles of diet coke. The label on the bottle is silver and red- girly?
Coke Zero is advertised to men, with an advert that includes fast cars, women and a cool lead character that resembles James Bond. The label on the bottle is black and red, very masculine and also a popular colour theme for action film poster adverts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdKYevR3tDE (Couldn't find the UK advert but the principle is the same)
So why appeal so exclusively to one sex?
Well I think it comes down to the fact that ‘diet coke’ sounds like a ‘girly’ drink. Women are forever on diets (Generalising here I know, but for the sake of the argument bear with me) so the idea of a man drinking Diet Coke appears very feminine. Whereas Coke Zero sounds manly, butch, masculine, if a man is drinking Coke Zero nobody bats an eyelid.
It is interesting how advertising is so powerful that is completely changes the consumers view of a product.