Coca Cola's Vision of America

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

With the Superbowl finished (the Seahawks slaughtering the Broncos and taking the trophy (just as The Oatmeal predicted)), people are still abuzz about a few things; namely, the game and the Coca Cola advertisement.  For those of you who didn’t bother to watch the game, here is the Coca Cola commercial that everyone is fighting over:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8iM73E6JP8 – Coca Cola: America, the Beautiful

People have been tweeting Coca Cola no sooner they saw the commercial. Each tweet contained a message of people deeming Coca Cola “un-American” and vowing to never drink their product. Their ultimate reason for this is because that the song America, the Beautiful was sung in eight foreign languages.

(theblaze.com)

But what is America exactly? Most of us have different definitions of it. America is patriotic, idealistic, the land of opportunity, the home of dreams, and my personal favorite, the ultimate supplier of bacon. Coca Cola envisions America as a diverse melting pot, culminating with races and languages of different nationalities. This theme was seen and heard throughout the ad which featured a homosexual couple roller skating with their daughter, a family dinner, friends engaging in various fun activities such as surfing and watching a movie, and various nationalities joining in on the fun.

Coca Cola’s intent was to “get people talking and thinking about what it means to be American” (Lee, USA Today). While their attempt was promising and understandable, most people thought otherwise. As for myself, I’m not a big fan of Coca Cola for what it does to your body, much like other sodas. However, I believe the commercial was decent and carried out a meaning of America that has been always defined this nation.

America has always been a melting pot that speaks more than one language. The most popular languages spoken in this nation are: English, French, and Spanish. They are languages that have migrated to this country by way of people. Over time, more people have come to this country in search of a new life, and with it, they brought their language regardless if it was Japanese or Italian. So why are we now causing a commotion over something that has been happening for ages with this nation?

Feel free to leave your comments below and as always, feedback and followers are welcomed.

Jingle Bells, Kmart Sells

Greetings everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

By now Christmas ads have been aired on television. Some are old classics like the Chex Mix commercial set to Carol of the Bells and Hershey Kisses chiming We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Other businesses have created new ads to draw people into their stores. Kmart has released its Christmas commercial and it’s causing heads to turn and opinions to be launched from mouths everywhere.

To be frank with you fellow readers, I don’t understand why people are so upset with this ad. As a Communications major, I know that media uses sex appeal in various commercials, magazines, and other formats. Sex draws the eyes of many readers along with murder, scandal, and any other sort of shocking event. In this new Kmart commercial, they were doing what any other company does, and using sex appeal to sell their product of Joe Boxer boxers. We have Victoria’s Secret models that expose half, if not most of their bodies, on their commercials yet no one has said anything about that. 

fanpop.com

Honestly, the new Kmart Christmas commercial reminds me of Monty Python’s skit “Sit on my Face.” In that skit, the cast of Monty Python proceeded to sing about how life would be great with different methods of sex. But as opposed to wearing boxers, they were nothing but waiter’s uniforms without underwear and pants. The audience saw the cast’s bums and possibly, some other things. But no one was offended by this skit because it was done for the sake of comedy because that’s what Monty Python does. They live to relish British humor with a bit of dirtiness, slight nudity, and other crazy yet humorous antics. 

imgur.com

Nobody expects The Ministry of Silly Walks!

Kmart on the other hand is just a store filled with clothes, home accessories, food, and other items.  They’re like any other establishment who wants to attract people so purchases can be made. While Monty Python’s skit was done for comedy, I can imagine Kmart’s commercial attempted to mix sex appeal and humor, to create men shaking their bums to Jingle Bells. Comedy often tends to reside with people on a positive note, especially sexual humor. Adults and teens love a funny, perverted joke. As for kids, it flies over their heads, and the only thing they receive from the ad is guys rocking their butts to a Christmas song. It would probably make them laugh as well because its butts and everything at that age that deals with behinds is funny. Even the word ‘butt’ to them is funny; why else do you think children’s movies are loaded up with butt jokes?  Take a look at the latest Despicable Me movie, the minions practically laugh at the word ‘bottom’ – clearly designed for kids.

wikipedia.com

Minions. Making everything funny with their strange looks, language, and voices. 

Kmart’s commercial was crafted to be funny for families and to promote their product to get people in their stores. Honestly, I find the ad to be a success if that was their intentions. While I don’t normally shop at that business, I may acknowledge the commercial in the future as being something comedic in a time where people trample over each other just to buy a Tickle Me Elmo.

What are your thoughts about the Kmart Christmas commercial? Feel free to leave your comments below and as always, feedback and followers are welcomed.