
In the 1949 Coca Cola ad, the artist uses several propaganda techniques to persuade consumers into buying and drinking more coke. The illustrator uses gender roles, color contrast, and color saturation to create a feeling of welcoming and euphoria for the reader.

Gender roles are stereotypes which can be found as far back as the early 19th century. In this picture the illustrator uses the women to focus the reader on the topic being the coke. It appears that the man has had a rough day due to the tiring look on his face. Based on the attire he is wearing I can assume he just got home from working all day. It’s also possible that he has just woke up to refresh and wake up a bit. I also noticed his wife or girlfriend is bringing him a coke in the picture. Another technique the illustrator uses is color contrast. 

Color contrast is quite simple and must be understood to understand the concept of color saturation. For example, most people know that the colors purple and yellow mix together to create the color brown. This mixture is known as a color contrast. Another situation in which a contrast occurs, is when the colors green and blue mix. When the colors green and blue combine, they create the color yellow. Now that I have touched on a couple of very basic examples on when a color contrast may occur, one should feel more comfortable on trying to understand what color saturation is. 

Color saturation in photography, is the intensity of a color expressed as the degree to which it differs from white. In the 1949 Coca Cola picture, a major eye catcher is the color brown. In the picture the first thing that I recognized was the man’s brown shoes. I was drawn to the man’s shoes because of the lighter colored socks he is wearing. I believe them to be somewhat of a dark yellow color. What caught my attention next was the man’s red hair. His red hair stood out to me because of how strong the saturation is compared to his face. To the human eye this is very palpable. Taking a closer look I realized the small part of the man’s business shirt that was visible although he is wearing a khaki colored jacket. Another small detail I picked up on, was the part of the vest he is wearing. Though barely visible it appears to be a dark yellow color much similar to the man’s socks; Yet when compared to the sofa he is sitting on, one can tell that the socks are darker than the vest. By making this observation one can also see that vest is darker than the sofa. I also noticed the white wall in the background with five pictures hanging on it. Though I am curious to know what these pictures are, I can only see shades of blue, green, and a little red. The next thing I noticed was the lady wearing pink. Pink is a very bright color and caught my attention before I could realize what she was holding. 

As you can see the artist uses several propaganda techniques to persuade consumers into buying and drinking more coke. The illustrator uses a stereotype role by having the women wear a pink dress and by having her offer the coke. The author also uses color contrast by mixing the colors purple and yellow together to create brown. Finally the author uses color saturation by strategically putting colors in the right place to lead the viewer to seeing the coke, leaving him or her to the feeling of welcoming and euphoria.
