Argumentative Advertisement Essay, Free Sample from Our Database

Advertising is the act used to capture the attention of customers to raise their awareness over a product or service. The complexity of this form of communication has evolved over the years. There are many different ways and strategies a business can pitch a product to potential customers. The internet comes with an array of media, including videos, branded chat rooms, advertorials and sponsored websites despite print media being the oldest of them all. However, while not all consumers use the internet, this method guarantees permanence. Although online advertisements are subject to change, those on magazines stay longer as once a newspaper has been bought, it will be visible throughout its lifetime (Brintazzoli et al. 830). The study attempts to deconstruct the mainstream meaning and use of advertisement with the case of the Coca-Cola advert during the 2010 World Cup. It is conjectured that adverts are well-placed in captioning the target message of advertisers with an allure that stays longer in the minds of the consumer.

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Adverts target the pervasive nature of human being and is centered on our psychological dispositions to form believe what we hear and perceive. For example, despite the common knowledge that all hamburgers are unhealthy, advertisers can propose that hamburger x is healthier than y because of reasons best known to them, which is to drive sales. Notably, most advertisements have both the shallow and deeper meanings conveyed. According to Brintazzoli et al., subliminal advertising does not attract the attention of most consumers (Brintazzoli et al. 43). Additionally, most such adverts are created on the 'see what you want to see' basis (Verwijmeren et al. 210).

A Coca-Cola sponsored advertisement of a happy disheveled boy of African descent in dirty torn school uniform playing football holding a drink surfaced during the 2010 World cup in South Africa. The background of the picture shows a beautiful green landscape with a mountain and poorly constructed houses. While most consumers are keen to the serene environment at the background, the subliminal message being put forth is racial segregation, poverty, and a continent condemned to backwardness. South Africa is inhabited by both white and black populations in equal measure. However, white segregation has plagued the country throughout the years. The Boers maintain attitudes of superiority, and maintain social distance and paternalistic benevolence towards their fellow countrymen. Earlier before their independence days, policies were enacted to guarantee that the white kept a higher social class and had political and economic advantages as well. Sheehan is a system that rendered the natives powerless to govern their land. Also, they were forced to work for the settlers and live in prison-like conditions. This form of White domination stripped Africans of their rights to move freely within the country, and separate schools and amenities were set for the different social classes with the upper-class city neighborhoods left for the ruling elite.

Despite the abolishment of Apartheid in 1990, segregation is still approved. More than half of the African population lives in abject poverty. On the other hand, White people are rich although scarcely contribute more to the Gross Domestic Product of the country. Notably, the creators of this advertisement seem to have had a good background of this knowledge because they did not use a white boy in the picture. If they were to represent a country based on equal rights and justice, a white boy would have partnered the black, sharing the drink in a joyous manner (Sheehan 120). However, the boy seems to be enjoying his moment despite his shanty background. It symbolizes that poverty does not define him in any way. The inevitable fact is that poverty is rife mainly African and Asian continents. In Bangladesh, for example, children are employed in factories because their parents cannot sufficiently provide for them. Worst case scenarios are when sex traders take advantage of their situation and create a chain of trafficking, a current global problem according to the United Nations. A solution to this is not to let poverty define one's future. Therefore, a positive mindset that one can be anything should be the guiding principle. From the advertisement, the boy signifies freedom from prejudices of race and poverty.

Education seems to be the only way out of poverty; however, from the advertisement, the boy looks more comfortable playing football than he would be in a class environment. It signifies the importance of talent management in developed and emerging economies, and the continent as well. While neglecting education is not an option, children should have a platform to showcase their talents. Equally important, encouraging parents and teachers to nature such untapped potential is paramount. Moreover, culture is at the heart of each African tribe. African people's simplistic nature is shown in this advertisement. If the picture was of a black child in a developed country, a representation of technology, such as a phone would be evident. However, humility, a blend of nature and peace of mind is what engulfs the consumer.

Anyone who dares the 8000-kilometer journey from Cape Agulhas in South Africa to Ras Ben Sakka in the North encounters extreme weather conditions, cultures, wealth and poverty all in the same basket. Despite these inconsistencies, a common denominator of opportunity defines them all. Africa offers a wide range of opportunities from wildlife to mining. The beautiful green landscape in the advertisement seems to provide opportunities for wildlife. It perhaps is what defines the continent due to its vast nature of the wilderness. In the same way, the landscape signifies life. The global campaign to reduce carbon emissions is at its peak. While Trump's America pulled out of the Paris Agreement, nature demonstrated in the background shows a commitment of the African content in preserving quality. The Congo basin creates an environment of its own as a result of extensive forests that assume a significant role in the reduction of greenhouse gas effect on the ozone layer.

The overall picture the advertisement put is love and being contended, which is what defines Africans despite poverty, insufficiency, and limitation. They embrace their culture and nature with pride, appreciating the little they have. Their duty, by being part of the solution, is evident in the protection of the environment. Furthermore, the freedom demonstrated by the boy shows how Africa would be without socioeconomic vices, such as political instability, economic discrimination, racial segregation and religious extremism (De Mooij 165). In 1968, the national police chief of South Vietnam calmly approached a prisoner in the middle of a Saigon street and fired a bullet into his head. Eddie Adams, an Associated Press photographer, captured the exact moment of the gunshot on a black and white film. The Police Chief, Gen. Nguyen van lem, a Vietcong fighter had killed one of his soldiers. After the photo surfaced in American newspapers, the conflict lacked the public opinion by its integrity towards human rights. As a result, the war in Vietnam was abandoned. Also, two people died that day, the recipient of the bullet and General Ngoc Loan. The general killed the Vietcong the other was killed by the camera. As it has been shown photographs are the most effective weapons globally (Schudson 127).Similarly, Fredrick R Barnard in commending the effectiveness of graphics in advertising noted that a picture is worth more than a thousand words. Scientists believe that the brain can process an image 60,000 times faster than text. The advertising industry has efficiently used this tactic for a long time. To create a tremendous impact on user engagement, incorporating images into an advertising strategy is advised. With the current global trend leaning towards visual content, much attention is now focused on social media platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. A simple picture can deliberately improve company sales through visual communication.

In conclusion, the sponsored Coca-Cola advertisement does not just sell the products, but it at the same time conveys an important message to the target audience. A simple look at a picture confers information about the subject. Therefore, activation of this knowledge is vital in business, as well as showing what cultural inclinations stand for in modern times. Remarkably, a photograph excludes context and the limitation can lead to interpretation of adverts.

Works Cited

Brintazzoli, Gigliola, et al. "Conscious, but not unconscious, logo priming of brands and related

words." Consciousness and cognition 21.2 (2012): 824-834.

De Mooij, Marieke. Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and advertising. Sage, 2010.Schudson, Michael. Advertising, the uneasy persuasion (RLE Advertising): Its dubious impact on American society. Vol. 6. Routledge, 2013.

Sheehan, Kim Bartel. Controversies in contemporary advertising. Sage Publications, 2013.Verwijmeren, Thijs, et al. "The workings and limits of subliminal advertising: The role of habits." Journal of Consumer Psychology 21.2 (2011): 206-213.