Advertisements are literally everywhere, and for my rhetorical analysis I decided to pick an older advertisement, because they tend to be more controversial and reflect the mentality of people at the time.  Although I searched for a modern advertisement, I was not able to find one which I thought would be appropriate to analyze, resulting in me choosing an old visual advertisement from Coca Cola Company. 

The advertisement is printed on an eggshell white background and features a beautiful young fair skinned girl with short curly red hair and a smile.  She is wearing red lipstick and rosy cheeks and is holding her hands behind her head.  The girl pictured is unrealistically thin, and wearing a “Coca-Cola red” dress with a black belt and a gold buckle.  She is standing behind an empty clear coke glass and a silver tap with a white handle and is standing in front of a red sign saying "Drink Coca-Cola, Delicious and Refreshing" in bold black and white lettering.  The advertisement has a heading saying “Carry a smile back to work” in red and white text.  The main advertisement paragraph at the bottom says "One real pleasure which belongs in a busy day is a pause at a soda fountain for an ice-cold Coca-Cola.  There's a taste-thrill in its tingling, delicious flavor.  Its life and sparkle go quickly into energy.  You feel fit for what's ahead... With food for light lunch, it helps avoid after-lunch drowsiness.”  There is also a large text to the side of the main advertisement text saying "Feel fit for what's ahead" in bold black font.  

Due to the placement of an attractive female in advertisement, I tend to view this ad as being aimed towards both males and females.  The woman’s placement in the ad serves the purpose of catching the eyes of men while also serving the purpose of showing girls with Coca-Cola, this is what you can be.  The title of the ad “Carry a smile back to work” also seems to imply that Coca-Cola will make whoever drinks it happy and energetic, promoting a lifestyle.  The caption “Feel fit for what’s ahead” also seems to be targeted towards women, because at the time women were perceived being “weak” and “unable” in the workforce, only being able to serve in positions such as secretaries.  Throughout the ad, the Coca-Cola company attempts to elicit a response of interest and curiosity, advertising Coca-Cola as a lifestyle product rather than just something to drink and enjoy, saying “It’s life and sparkle goes quickly into energy”, implying that this drink will change your life, giving its consumer a new energy.  Interestingly enough, similar advertisement tactics are used by modern companies such as Apple and the modern Coca-Cola company still do so.   

Around the time that this advertisement was produced, the idea of a working woman was still a societal taboo, however, when permitted to work, women worked desk jobs such as secretaries, etc. In this way, (in promoting the idea of a “working woman”) this advertisement can be viewed as almost revolutionary for its time, however, looking back there is a tendency to view this advertisement as oppressive and as promoting a stereotypical view of women.  

Throughout this advertisement, the famous “Coca-Cola” red is used everywhere.  From the bright red dress, to the sign on the bottom right, and even in the text at the top, red is used against a white background to make the color pop and stand out to the eye.  Hidden throughout the illustration, the girl’s red lipstick and rosy red cheeks stick out against her pale white skin and there are even hints of red in her hair.

When studying the advertisement, to me, it is clear that the advertiser (Coca-Cola Company) is promoting coke as a lifestyle rather than just another product.  Coke is depicted as being a revolutionary energy drink with a delicious mix of “sparkling” flavors which gives you energy to get through the day.  While listing all of the benefits of drinking coke (even that it only costs 5 cents!), the ad fails to list all of the problems associated with the product, such as cavities, sugar addiction, etc. and does not really give any health information about the product at all, something modern buyers are usually very wary about.   

Within the advertisement, it’s very style as an illustration presents an altered reality, in which people (or at least women) are made perfect, beautiful, and happy.   This artistic styling invites the heterosexual male viewer to come in and take a coke and a beautiful lady, while also inviting a woman to come and be transformed by through its consumption.

Throughout this advertisement, there are three main blocks of text:  The advertisement’s title; “Carry a smile back to work”, it’s main marketing block of text; “One real pleasure which belongs in a busy day is a pause at a soda fountain for an ice-cold Coca-Cola.  There's a taste-thrill in its tingling, delicious flavor.  Its life and sparkle go quickly into energy.  You feel fit for what's ahead... With food for light lunch, it helps avoid after-lunch drowsiness.”  and the final note at the bottom; “Feel fit for what’s ahead”.  The text relates to this concept of selling a life changing product to a consumer, calming that Coke’s “life and sparkle go quickly into energy”, causing the consumer to “feel fit for what’s ahead”.  It also claims a potential health benefit of helping deal with “after-lunch drowsiness”, drawing towards the conclusion of the advertisement to “feel fit for what’s ahead”
