Sunday, February 22, 2015

Coca-Cola Beach Misfortunes Ad

In this spot for Coke, we see a young man buy a coke from a food stand at the beach, but then a young woman breaks a string on her acoustic guitar, so the young man gives her his bottle of Coke. (Maybe he’s just trying to distract her from changing the string to help everyone avoid hearing more unrequested outdoor folk music?) But just as she takes hold of the bottle, an elderly nun’s car starts being towed away, so the young woman gives the bottle of Coke to the old nun. Oh, but then the (I think) lifeguard stand explodes in a fireball, and the lifeguard is barely saved in the nick of time by a fireman, and so the elderly nun gives the lifeguard the bottle of Coke. Oh, but just then… And in the end, a meteorite (I think) destroys the food stand, and the food guy gets the Coke back, but then maybe there’s some alien invader or something?

Yes, things just keep going from bad to worse in this ad, and just as someone gets handed the bottle of Coke, something else that’s even more catastrophic happens. And that got me to thinking: hey, maybe the Coke is causing all of these disasters! No, really; just watch the commercial: every time someone gives the bottle of Coke to someone else, something even worse happens to someone else! Maybe if nobody ordered, bought, drank, or gave away any Coca-Cola products whatsoever, the beach would be peaceful and safe again. Or at least, that’s what it seems like from what we’re seeing in this spot. But at least the guy who started it all by selling Coca-Cola products had his livelihood destroyed: it serves him right for selling something that causes so much destruction!

(BTW: I am only joking here, and I like Coca-Cola. But it’s hard not to read this ad in this manner when you see the pattern emerge.)

Wow, I am totally surprised that I cannot find this catastrophic Coke commercial online tonight. But people watching the Oscars all saw it, unless they left the room.