Coke Zero and Diet Coke print ads

To answer section A on your exam you need to be able to talk about advertising in more than one medium

That means commenting on a couple of print ads alongside the video ones

Coke Zero - Quantum of Solace

This print ad follows the conventions of the TV ad: the predominant colours are the colours of the product (black and red) and the product itself is advertised using a classic male icon: James Bond. Remember how advertisers use celebrity to sell their products – in this case the audience (of men) can feel in some way like James Bond by buying into the marketing and consuming Coke Zero.

Black and Red are nature’s warning colours: they’re strong, bold, powerful and masculine. Using an image of James Bond, half hidden in the shadows directly addressing the audience is challenging you to be a man and drink Coke Zero. James Bond is an icon, the ultimate ‘man’ – sophisticated, good with the ladies, and almost indestructible: three major appeals to an audience who want to stress their manliness!

The product is featured centrally in this advertisement, and it uses graphics from the James Bond films (the gun and the shutter). The white swirls are suggestive of ice, emphasising the coolness and freshness of Coke Zero, and the slogan ‘Zero Zero 7’ combines the name of the drink with the James Bond slogan itself. This advert is a natural extension of the ‘Our Hero’ campaign, using a fictional hero to firmly aim the product at an audience of men.

Diet Coke - 'hello you'

In this print advertisement Diet Coke aim their Product at a female audience by using an image of Duffy (the singer) posed in front of an image of a female superhero. Duffy represents the Diet Coke drinker: female, independent, smart and cool, and someone who is able to define herself by what she drinks. She is in black and white (traditionally representing sophistication and cool) and stands out against the bright colours of the background in the same way as the Diet Coke can’s red stands out against her.

Duffy is there to represent the audience: they should see themselves reflected in her and in the ‘hello you’ of the slogan. This is an advert featuring a woman
aimed at women: there is none of the obvious sexuality or masculinity seen in the Coke Zero ads. She is casually dressed, in jeans and a checked shirt,
and is casually posed – any woman can aspire to be like her, to be this cool, ‘no superwoman’ but just a woman who is that little bit cooler for drinking Diet Coke.

Unlike Coke Zero, which sells its product across the platforms through sex and masculinity, the Diet Coke ads feature women in control of their lives and the situations they find themselves in, drinking Diet Coke as part of the everyday process of being a modern woman. The cross-platform tie-in with this poster is the TV advert which features Duffy taking time out from performing to cycle to her nearest supermarket to get a Diet Coke, singing on the way about life. She’ll do what she wants, with a smile, and diet coke will help her get it.