) In any case, an advertising mechanism that presents a flattering image that is consistent with the way people in the target audience most want to view themselves is likely to be very successful. In that respect, the Coca-Cola ad employs the same principle as pioneered and perfected by the tobacco companies in the middle of the twentieth century: "If one wants to be & #8230; a 'real man' then one should buy Marlboro cigarettes" (Kellner, ). In this case, the purpose of the piece is to communicate the idea that "If one is an attractive, sexually active, and socially successful person one would drink Coca-Cola just like your peers in this advertisement."

Mid-Twentieth Century Coca-Cola Advertisement

Images and Audiences

The image in this piece is the less explicit component of the advertisement. Whereas many advertisements emphasize the strength of their visual images and restrict the ad copy to a single "hook" line or slogan, this particular piece relies primarily on the substantive rhetorical content of the ad copy; the image is consistent with and obviously promotes a favorable image in connection with the ad copy, but the former is much more dependent on the latter than vice-versa. The image itself depicts a very healthy and robust-looking toddler. Even in the black-and-white medium of the era, the child exemplifies idealized "All-American" features, such as his flowing blond hair. From a technical perspective, the techniques of the day were (apparently) insufficient to capture both subjects in the same shot; the images appear to have been produced individually and it is relatively obvious that the infant's attention during the moment his image is captured is not on the model portraying his mother.

Implied Appeals and Suggestions

From a modern point-of-view, it is astonishing that advertisements once featured this type of ad copy, even where it is not patently false. The literal interpretation of the ad copy is that formal longitudinal "laboratory" studies have followed infants raised on cola products into adolescence. However, the ad clearly states that those "laboratory studies" have only been conducted...

The content of the copy would lead one to believe that the advertiser was prohibited from making direct health claims. If the existing copy evoked no shame and if cigarette advertisements of the era routinely made medical promises in connection with smoking, it is surprising that the ad copy focuses on social acceptance and personality when it could have promised taller children, muscles, and high intelligence. Then again, it is conceivable that other advertising campaigns made exactly those claims. Meanwhile, this one seems to have been designed to exploit the residual disappointments or regrets of parents whose own childhoods or adolescences were painful or lonely and devoid of social affirmation and acceptance.
The explicit promise of the advertisement is (literally) that use of the product by the youngest children will result in a "lifetime of guaranteed happiness." The intention of the advertisement's message is (probably) to exploit the inexperience of new parents who are anxiously awaiting the first signs of mutual recognition from their infants and for "personality" at a time when most infants spend most of the day sleeping.

Symbolism and Purpose

The child is obviously depicted in an extremely positive moment despite the fact that he appears to be at the approximate age when such melancholy moments are comparatively rare in the lives of parents and toddlers. Likewise, the mother pictured with the toddler is perfectly coifed in a manner that most mothers with toddlers rarely have time to achieve and there is no hint at all of any of the stresses of parenthood. The audience for the piece could hardly be more clear: it is mothers of infants, toddlers, and young children. The purpose of the piece is to convey directly and imply indirectly that the product is a way of ensuring that children will be active, and happy, and socially accepted by their peers. The most natural impulse of parents would be to ensure that their children do not experience the same disappointments in their development.